The insidious legacy of eugenics lives on in the techno-surveillance, algorithmic authoritarianism, and data-driven discrimination of Big Tech. This talk illuminates the throughline between the 19th century's anti-immigration and eugenics movements and our sprawling systems of techno-surveillance and algorithmic discrimination. I'll address how the AI-driven and market-based models of Big Tech are built on data that exploit women, immigrant groups, and other minoritized populations, amplifying social hierarchies and AI's predictions of majoritarian outcomes as the most probable and “ideal” futures. But it doesn’t have to be this way. This talk explains how it happened and how we can fight back.

Anita Say Chan, PhD (she/her) is a scholar and educator dedicated to feminist and decolonial approaches to technology. She is a Professor of Information Sciences and Media, and founder of the Community Data Clinic at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her latest book, Predatory Data: Eugenics in Big Tech and Our Fight for an Independent Future, was published in 2025 with U. of California Press.
We strive to make our events accessible to all participants.

This event will be a hybrid event with both a physical meeting space and an online meeting space.

Please register in advance for the online Zoom Webinar here: https://myumi.ch/W6rkm

Please register for the physical meeting space at the University of Michigan’s Central Campus: TBD

CART will be provided. If you anticipate needing accommodations to participate, please email Eric Mancini at dsi-administration@umich.edu. Please note that some accommodations must be arranged in advance, and we encourage you to contact us as soon as possible.

Co-Sponsors: Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing; Department of English Language & Literature; Department of Film, Television, and Media; Institute for Research on Women and Gender; Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program