Large Language Models in Focus: Wendy Hui Kyong Chun on the Importance of Critical Theory for AI

Artificial intelligence is often viewed primarily as a technological challenge. Discussions about human values and responsibility are frequently framed under the heading of “Ethics and AI,” as if such considerations must be added to technical systems after the fact. Wendy Hui Kyong Chun challenges this perspective. She demonstrates why approaches from the humanities and social sciences are fundamental to understanding both the functioning and the success of large language models.

Drawing on the connections between natural language processing techniques and linguistic concepts, she examines large language models as posthuman writing technologies. In doing so, she explores how the humanities and social sciences can collaborate more closely with science, technology and engineering disciplines to better understand existing models and to develop new, more creative forms of AI.

Wendy Hui Kyong Chun is the Canada 150 Research Chair in New Media at Simon Fraser University and Director of the Digital Democracies Institute. Following academic training in Systems Design Engineering and English Literature, she developed a research approach that bridges technical and cultural perspectives on digital media. She gained international recognition through books such as „Control and Freedom: Power and Paranoia in the Age of Fiber Optics“, „Programmed Visions: Software and Memory“, „Updating to Remain the Same: Habitual New Media“, and „Discriminating Data: Correlation, Neighborhoods, and the New Politics of Recognition“.

For nearly two decades, she served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Modern Culture and Media at Brown University. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an International Fellow of the British Academy. She has also received numerous prestigious research fellowships, including appointments at the Institute for Advanced Study and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Wendy Hui Kyong Chun has maintained a long-standing collaboration with Leuphana University. As a visiting professor, she contributed her research perspectives to the university community and engaged in discussions on the societal impacts of digital technologies, data practices, and algorithmic systems. With her current lecture, she returns to Leuphana to address one of the most pressing questions of our time: How can we understand AI, and what insights can critical theory provide for its future development?

The Centre for Digital Cultures (CDC) focuses on the emergence of new and complex aspects of socio-technical life in cities. This includes the development of advanced theories and innovative study programs. Its members explore how digital cultures can be understood and shaped today.