MICHEL DEGRAFF: So critical computational empowerment.
That's one of the key concepts that Professor Fox Harrell, who
was one of our guest speakers, discussed during his visit
to class.
And it was a big hit in the class.
Because, as you know, we have many engineers,
scientists in the course.
And many of them are so used to the notion of coding,
of computation, being supposedly neutral
when it comes to ideology.
And to the societal tendencies.
But what Fox should really clearly is
that those hierarchies of power, that this course is about,
really, are themselves embedded in these codes.
In these codes that create video games, virtual reality
platforms.
So if we're not aware of these hierarchies,
and how they are coded--
really coded-- in those platforms,
then we become prey to them without even knowing.
We accept their assumptions, and we
reinforce our own attitudes that might put down women,
or immigrants, or Muslims, or gay people.
So we will become part of these hierarchies
and maintaining them.
But also what Fox showed in his visit is
that, once you understand how coding can encode
those hierarchies, then we can actually
create codes that will, in turn, give us
more flexibility for identities that are more inclusive.
And more humane towards, especially, women,
and blacks, and Latinos, and Muslims, et cetera.
So the one thing that Fox did in his visit
was to show us one of his platforms
where he brings together people on different sides
of a conflict.
So one case that he showed was this conflict
between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
So there's this perform where you can bring those soldiers
together, who fight on opposite sides,
and through that, they get to better empathize
with each other's identities, and biographies,
and life circumstances.
So that was really a powerful concept for the students
to get to understand.
How coding can indeed help us code a better world for all.