Illinois State University students analyze AI risks in 'End of the World' course

Students at Illinois State University are grappling with the ethical and societal risks of artificial intelligence through a specialized academic lens. The exploration takes place within a course titled "WGS 391/491: Feminism at the End of the World," which challenges students to consider the intersection of technology and systemic collapse.

Taught by Dr. Jacklyn Weier through the university's Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program, the curriculum focuses on the consequences of emerging technologies. The course utilizes an intersectional feminist framework to analyze how AI impacts different populations. To ground these discussions in current research, the syllabus includes readings such as Laura Bates' 2025 work, "The New Age of Sexism: How AI and Emerging Technologies Are Reinventing Misogyny."

The intersection of AI and equity

The course is designed to move beyond the technical capabilities of AI, instead focusing on the potential for these tools to reinforce existing social hierarchies. By framing the study within the context of "the end of the world," the program encourages students to think critically about systemic failure and the role technology plays in either accelerating or mitigating those risks. This approach allows students to examine how AI might reinvent historical patterns of misogyny and marginalization in a digital age.

Environmental and historical context

To provide a broader perspective on the physical infrastructure of AI, the course integrated external expertise on the material costs of computing. Dr. Roy Magnuson, director of Illinois State's Adaptive Edge Institute, served as a guest speaker for the class. Magnuson provided students with a detailed look at the history of AI and the environmental impact of data centers, highlighting the ecological footprint required to sustain large-scale AI models.

Implications for AI literacy

This pedagogical approach represents a shift toward a more critical form of AI literacy. Rather than focusing solely on prompt engineering or productivity, the course emphasizes the socio-political implications of automation. By combining feminist theory with environmental data and historical context, the university is preparing students to question the neutrality of technology and understand the power dynamics inherent in its development.

Future directions

As AI continues to integrate into academic and professional environments, the university's focus on intersectional analysis suggests a growing need for multidisciplinary oversight. While the course provides a framework for questioning these technologies, the long-term impact of such critical pedagogy on student outcomes and AI policy remains to be seen.