AI Futures Seminar Series
About this Event
The PlanetaryAI project hosts the AI Futures seminar series, that centres discussions on alternative visions and technofutures for more just and equal worlds. The series will engage with leading thinkers for conversations on developing visions for radically different futures. The seminars are open to all, and will take place as a mix of online and in person lectures in Edinburgh, UK. You can register to join us for the seminars or watch the recording, in case you missed it.
On June 16th, we will host Paola Ricaurte and Nick Couldry in an afternoon to discuss AI Futures in the Inspace at the University of Edinburgh. Following the lecture, we welcome all participants to enjoy refreshments and the art exhibition AI Futures that will showcase digital artwork curated by our team at Planetary AI.
Agenda:
14H00: Reception (light refreshments served)
14H30-16H00: Lecture with Paola Ricaurte and Nick Couldry (see below for details about the lecture)
16H00-17H00: Art Exhibition AI Futures (light refreshments served)
AI as Order of Capture: How and Where Do We Resist and Rebuild? In this talk, Nick Couldry will introduce the core elements of the data colonialism framework which for a decade he has developed with Ulises Mejias, explaining how it applies not just to general data extraction to AI and generative AI in particular. He is discuss what resistance looks like, what makes resistance hard and even blocks it, and how nonetheless to move forward to define a different future for AI adoption, in universities and other knowledge institutions and in society generally.
Nick Couldry is Professor of Media Communications and Social Theory Emeritus at the London School of Economics. He is the author or editor of eighteen books including most recently Data Grab (with Ulises Mejias, Penguin 2024) and The Space of the World: Can Human Solidarity Survive Social Media and What if it Can’t? (Polity, 2024). Nick is co-founder of the Tierra Común network of scholars and activists (https://www.tierracomun.net/). In 2025 he received the Dallas Smythe Award from the Union of Democratic Communications. He has just completed a book on AI (Predatory AI: How We Can Resist Corporate Capture of the Human Mind (Polity) which comes out in November 2026.
Building Feminist Decolonial AI in Latin AmericaDeveloping alternative anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, and anti-patriarchal technologies in contexts of inequality and violence means attempting to respond to the deepest structural challenges we face as humanity. This is not only a technical and territorial undertaking — it is a challenge for feminist and decolonial praxis itself, which must constantly revisit its own assumptions to remain coherent, navigate obstacles, and at times adjust expectations. This talk shares six years of experiences from the Feminist AI Network in Latin America and the Caribbean in supporting the development of feminist decolonial AI in the region.
Paola Ricaurte is a full professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey and a faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. She is the co-founder of Tierra Común, an academic and activist network committed to decolonizing data, and leads the Latin American and Caribbean Feminist AI Network. Her work bridges academia, activism, innovation and policymaking, with a central focus on human rights from decolonial and feminist perspectives. Paola serves on several international expert committees, including the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), UNESCO’s AI Ethics Experts Without Borders (AIEB), and the Women for Ethical AI (W4EAI) platform. She was included in the 2025 TIME100 AI list of the most influential people in artificial intelligence.
About the project: The seminars are open to all and will take place as a mix of online and in person lectures in Edinburgh, UK. You can register to join us for the seminars or watch the recording, in case you missed it. Find our more about the AI Futures seminar series here: https://planetaryai.net/838-2/
Acknowledgement: Planetary AI is a project funded by the UKRI. This is event is partly funded by the SRSF by the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Organizers: Amir Anwar, Beatrice Bonami and Srravya Chandhiramowuli.
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