Beyond Tech Fixes
Description
This book offers a bold and critical examination of the intersections between artificial intelligence (AI) and disability justice. Rather than framing AI as a neutral or purely beneficial tool, the book interrogates how AI systems reproduce ableism, deepen systemic exclusions, and perpetuate colonial, neoliberal, and corporate power structures. It challenges the prevailing reliance on "tech fixes"-improving datasets or tweaking algorithms-and instead insists on addressing the deeper social, political, and ethical dimensions of AI development and deployment. Through a disability justice lens, it highlights the complex realities faced by disabled communities and emphasizes the need for approaches that dismantle ableism rather than superficially enhance accessibility.
Covering topics such as algorithmic bias, data colonialism, technoableism, and the militarization of AI, this book foregrounds critical frameworks including design justice, data sovereignty, and participatory governance. It draws on diverse scholarly perspectives and activist insights to propose actionable pathways toward more accountable, equitable, and inclusive AI futures. By centering disabled people's experiences and knowledge, the book offers not only critique but also visionary strategies for transforming AI systems to serve justice rather than entrench oppression.
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Persons
Christo El Morr is a Professor of Health Informatics at York University and the Director of the Centre for Feminist Research. His research focuses on digital health, equity, and the intersections of technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence, and social justice. Dr. El Morr is also a theologian, poet, and advocate for social justice, with a broader intellectual contribution that defends the human person against alienation and exploitation. His work encompasses freedom from oppression and exploitation and the celebration of life.
Yahya El-Lahib is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary. His scholarship, teaching and practice focus on disability justice, displacement and migration studies, intersectionality, and decolonial approaches to social justice. He brings an activist perspective to his work, centering the everyday lived experiences of marginalized groups and communities and advocating for systemic change in policy, education, and practice.
Rachel Gorman is Director of the Graduate Program in Critical Disability Studies at York University. Their research spans disability justice, critical race feminism, and social policy, focusing on community-engaged scholarship. They work at the intersection of activism and academia, advancing inclusive, participatory approaches to knowledge production and social transformation.
Content
Part I: Foundations.- Introduction AI and Disability Justice: Towards a Transdisciplinary and Emancipatory Framework.- Chapter 1 Centering Disability Justice in Accessible and Inclusive AI.- Chapter 2 AI and the Disability Divide: Towards a Transdisciplinary Approach.- Part II Social : Examining the Crossroads of AI and Disability.- Chapter 3 Exploring the Potential Role of AI Tools in Facilitating Self-Determination at Early Stages of Dementia.- Chapter 4 An Opportunity to Use AI to Support Content Creators in Creating Born-Accessible Documents.- Chapter 5 Understanding the Digital Disability Creation Process and Bridging the Gap Between Responsible AI Design and Disability Frameworks.- Chapter 6 Assessing AI's Role in Digital Accessibility.- Chapter 7 Can access to employment for persons with speech impairment be enhanced by accommodating generative AI?.- Chapter 8 AI challenges and opportunities for Students with Learning Disabilities.- Chapter 9 The do's and don'ts of anti-racist/anti-ableist writing teaching using generative AI.- Part III Moving Forward: Charting A Path Towards Inclusive AI.- Chapter 10 The View from Elsewhere: Investigating Infrastructural Inequities at the Intersection of Disability and AI-enabled Interactive Technologies.- Chapter 11 Manifestations of Ableism, Disablism, and Disability Evasiveness in AI-generated Flash Fiction.- Chapter 12 Decoloniality and AI: Possibilities and Pitfalls.- Part IV From Awareness to Action: Building Disability -Just AI Future .- Chapter 13 The Role of AI in Disability Justice: Exploring David Wills' Prosthetic Theory.- Chapter 14 Disability data futures: Achievable imaginaries for AI and disability data justice.- Part V Conclusion.- Chapter 15 Disability Justice Framework for AI: Towards a Responsible AI.- Chapter 16 Beyond Bias Towards an Emancipatory Framework.
