The Department of English at the U of A is pleased to announce an upcoming event featuring Megan McIntyre and Maggie Fernandes, assistant professors of rhetoric and composition, who will lead a discussion on "Generative AI Refusal in Writing Studies."

The event will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, in Kimpel Hall room 310, and all are welcome to attend. If you would like to view the presentation via livestream, please register.

In this presentation, McIntyre and Fernandes will discuss "refusal" as a disciplinary and principled response to the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). McIntyre and Fernandes noted: "When we say GenAI 'refusal,' we are talking about the range of ways that individuals and/or groups consciously and intentionally choose to refuse GenAI use, when and where we are able to do so because they recognize the present and ongoing harms of GenAI products."

In their presentation, they counter dominant hype narratives about GenAI via refusal and outline four key points about refusal that guide their work as teachers, researchers and writers at a moment of great technological change: 

1. Refusal is focused on the present implications of GenAI for perpetuating systems of oppression, as opposed to focusing on speculative risks or potential benefits of GenAI.
2. Refusal includes multidimensional and plural responses to the changing realities of GenAI.
3. Refusal is a pragmatic response that attends to specific contexts, positionalities and circumstances. 
4. Refusal is hope in the face of uncertainty, with the understanding that what we do in writing studies — and beyond — matters.

This presentation will be followed by a Q&A session, allowing attendees to engage directly with the professors on this timely and critical topic. For more information about this event, please contact Adam Pope, director of undergraduate studies in the Department of English, at arpope@uark.edu.

Learn more about the U of A Program in Rhetoric and Composition.