Negotiating the Uncertain Ethics of Emerging Technologies

The Tech Justice Lab invites you to attend a workshop and talk by Dr. Lindah Kotut. Dr. Kotut is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington’s Information School and Director of the ASILI research group. Her research is at the intersection of human computer interaction, Indigenous Knowledge, and cybersecurity.

At the keynote, Dr. Kotut will share insights about her research on AI-based technologies, the murky ethics of informed consent, the technology asymmetries faced by under-resourced communities, and how their adaptive use of existing technologies challenges our understanding of researchers’ responsibilities. The keynote will take place on Thursday, April 9, 2026, 5:30-6:30pm in WTHR 104. The keynote lecture will also be available over Zoom. 

At the workshop, we’ll discuss her 2024 paper, "Griot-Style Methodology: Longitudinal Study of Navigating Design With Unwritten Stories,” which describes how Dr. Kotut and collaborators partnered with an inter-generational oral community in Kenya to design technologies that support Indigenous storytelling and story preservation. The workshop will take place on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, 4:30-5:30pm in HCRS 1076 (RSVP Required). 

Additionally, after Lindah Kotut's visit, there will be a Zine and Button Making Event in the Knowledge Lab (WALC 3007) on Friday, April 17, 2-5pm. Drop in or stay the whole time as we use zines and buttons to explore the ethics of emerging technologies.

This series is sponsored by the Tech Justice Lab, School of Applied and Creative Computing, John Martinson Honors College, Knowledge Lab, and Students for Tech Justice.

About the Talk

The proliferation and rapid evolution of consumer-facing AI tools and technologies have been compounded by knowledge asymmetries in users’ understanding of how AI-based technologies (e.g., large language models) and AI-integrated technologies (e.g., image recognition features added to smart fridges) are designed and modeled to work. How, then, do we assess the trade-offs and long-term implications of such technologies?

In this talk, Dr. Kotut will share insights from her research to explore this broad question across three main threads: (i) how the ownership negotiations of user data reveal the murky ethics of informed consent, and how contrasting formal guidelines with oral-based community practices offer useful insights; (ii) technology asymmetries faced by resource-poor communities, and how their adaptive use of existing technologies challenges our understanding of researchers’ responsibilities; and (iii) how we operationalize place-based knowledge and work with master storytellers in our research to craft and contextualize long-term studies and envision future impact.

About Lindah Kotut

Dr. Lindah Kotut is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington’s Information School where she also directs the ASILI research group. Her research is at the intersection of human computer interaction (HCI), Indigenous Knowledge and cybersecurity.

She collaborates with frontline communities, and studies how they tell their stories both online and offline, and the role that technology plays in the telling: especially where they do not have equitable access to storytelling tools and technology.

She also seeks to highlight how these community stories offer key opportunities to understand other emerging and growing areas in computer science including ethics, privacy, (cyber)security and fairness and accountability in algorithm design.