What is AI actually revealing about us as humans? And what would it mean to build institutions that help us become more human, not less?
In this episode, I speak with Dr Jessica Riddell, Professor of Early Modern Literature at Bishop's University, Quebec, where she holds the Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence. Jessica is the founder of the Hope Circuits Institute and author of Hope Circuits: Rewiring Universities and Other Systems for Human Flourishing, as well as co-author of Shakespeare's Guide to Life, Hope and Learning. She comes to AI ethics not as a technologist but as a Shakespeare scholar interested in what this moment reveals about hope, integrity, and human flourishing.
Jessica argues that AI hasn't caused higher education's integrity gaps so much as exposed them, from the instant leap to surveillance and policing when ChatGPT arrived, to decades of running universities on "machine logic": optimisation, metrics, and efficiency at the expense of purpose. She makes the case for treating institutions as ecosystems rather than machines, and for protecting "deliberate inefficiencies," friction, bewilderment, productive struggle, as a superpower rather than a flaw.
The conversation also builds on Jessica's session ("Writing as Excavation: Teaching Writing With and Not Against Gen AI") at the Transatlantic Teaching Exchange Series I ran as part of my Fulbright Exchange. In this discussion, she walks through a classroom exercise where students wrote messy, handwritten thoughts each week, then fed their own writing into AI to surface patterns in how their thinking had developed. The result was a "warped mirror," useful, but also a reminder of what AI flattens out. Drawing on her friend Paul Yachnin's idea that theatre is the original LLM, but the opposite of AI because it stages questions without resolving them, Jessica makes the case for hope as a discipline, not optimism, and for building universities as "rehearsal spaces for creative futures" rather than futureproofing against an imagined threat.
Essential listening for anyone thinking about institutional purpose, academic integrity, or what it means to stay human at a moment when so much is being automated.
AI Ethics Now
Exploring the ethical dilemmas of AI in Higher Education and beyond.
A University of Warwick IATL Podcast
This podcast series was developed by Dr Tom Ritchie and Dr Jennie Mills, the module leads of The AI Revolution: Ethics, Technology and Society at the University of Warwick. The module explores the history, current state, and potential futures of artificial intelligence, examining its profound impact on society, individuals, and the very definition of 'humanness.'
This podcast was initially designed to provide a deeper dive into the key themes explored each week in class. We want to share the discussions we have had to help offer a broader, interdisciplinary perspective on the ethical and societal implications of artificial intelligence to a wider audience.
Join each fortnight for new critical conversations on AI Ethics with local, national, and international experts.
We will discuss:
- Ethical Dimensions of AI: Fairness, bias, transparency, and accountability
- Societal Implications: How AI is transforming industries, economies, and our understanding of humanity
- The Future of AI: Potential benefits, risks, and shaping a future where AI serves humanity
If you want to join the podcast as a guest, contact Tom.Ritchie@warwick.ac.uk
