Ruha Benjamin: Technology, Savior or Slayer?

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly woven into our everyday lives, these questions are more urgent than ever. Join the Harvey B. Gantt Center for a thought-provoking lecture examining the relationship between technology, race, power, and justice, and what it means to build more equitable futures.

Drawing from the influential works Race After Technology and Captivating Technology, Ruha Benjamin will challenge common narratives about innovation by exploring how emerging technologies reflect the values, assumptions, and systems that shape them. From algorithmic bias to authorship, and cultural representation, this conversation will examine how technology can both reproduce inequality and serve as a tool for imagining transformative change. Together, we'll explore how artists, scholars, technologists, and communities can help shape technologies that advance creativity, dignity, and collective liberation.

This lecture is part of the Harvey B. Gantt Center's continuing exploration into the intersection of art, culture, and technology— creating space for meaningful conversations about the ethical, cultural, and social questions that will define the future.

Directions & Parking

Please note that this program will take place at The Pearl, Charlotte's first innovation district. The Pearl is located at:

915 Pearl Park Way (Education Building)
Charlotte, NC 28204

Complimentary parking is available after 6 pm in Parking Deck B, located at:

235 Innovate Lane
Charlotte, NC 28204

Click/tap here to see campus and parking map.

Please allow a few extra minutes for parking and walking to the venue before the program begins.

Ruha Benjamin is the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, founding director of the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab, and award-winning author of Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code, Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want, and she recently released her fourth book, Imagination: A Manifesto. Ruha is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Marguerite Casey Foundation Freedom Scholar Award, the President's Award for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton, and in 2024, she was awarded a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Fellowship.

Learn more about Ruha and the work she's doing at ruhabenjamin.com.