Research

Queer AI for the Ally

Educating even the most well-intentioned allies about queer identities and experiences can be emotionally burdensome. It can require disclosures that risk precarity and even danger. And as regressive politicking further threatens the safety and wellbeing of queer individuals, allyship – encompassing all positive ways of supporting the rights of marginalised communities – has become more vital than ever. 

Queer AI for the Ally builds on the non-human potentiality of chatbots as a way of giving allies access to understandings about queer identities and experiences without imposing the burden of emotional labour and (re-)traumatization on the communities they want to support.

This prototype will take allyship one step closer to: 

• more equitable and sustainable engagements with marginalised communities; and 
• enabling those communities’ resilience in trying political times.

The project will build a prototype ‘queer-first AI chatbot’ which will build on our understanding of if (and how) AI technologies can perform the kinds of emotional labour (most often categorised as inherently human) required for effective allyship in times of socio-political trouble. 

Team

Kristen Schuster (they/them) – Lecturer in Digital Humanities, University of Southampton

Elija Cassidy – Associate Professor of Digital Media, University of  Southampton 

Lexi Webster – Associate Professor of Digital Culture, University of Southampton