David J. Gunkel | Lightnews

David Gunkel

@davidgunkel.bsky.social

2.1K followers 2.2K following 550 posts

Professor - Northern Illinois University (USA). Award-winning author of the books The Machine Question, Robot Rights, Person-Thing-Robot, Of Remixology, and Deconstruction. https://gunkelweb.com

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David J. Gunkel is an American academic and Presidential Teaching Professor of Communication Studies at Northern Illinois University. He teaches courses in web design and programming, information and communication technology (ICT), and cyberculture. His research and publications examine the philosophical assumptions and ethical consequences of ICT. .. more

Neuroscience 27%

Computer science 13%

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David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · Nov 15

Professional Raison d'être:
I apply the theory and practice of #Deconstruction to emerging technology (#Algorithms, #AI, #robots, etc.), overturning and disrupting the traditional binary oppositions by which we have made sense of our tools and ourselves. mitpress.mit.edu/978026254247...

Deconstruction

An accessible introduction to a concept often considered impossibly abstruse, demonstrating its power as a conceptual tool in the twenty-first century.This v...

mitpress.mit.edu

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 5h

"AI, Ethics, and the End of the Human–Machine Divide." Third and final part of my conversation with Siamak Goudarzi for the Nexter AI Group podcast. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq9f...

AI, Ethics, and the End of the Human–Machine Divide

YouTube video by Nexter AI Group

www.youtube.com

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 5h

And when we finally moved out, we passed the apt to my WYRE college radio friend Leila Eminson and her then husband Martin Atkins (drummer for PiL, Killing Joke, and Pig Face), who used the rooftop deck for the first ever Jesus and the Mary Chain performance.

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 1d

I had the opportunity to speak with Seth Camillo and
@carolinerisberg.bsky.social for episode #55 "Is #AI Alive?" of the www.theinternetiscrack.com podcast.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnxi...

#55 Is AI Alive?: A Conversation With Dr. David Gunkel

YouTube video by The Internet is Crack

www.youtube.com

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 4d

@blaiseaguera.bsky.social was just talking about this during the #AI Welfare event at Google. It's fascinating stuff, and I will certainly be including it in future conversations about this thing we call "intelligence."

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 4d

"Empathy, Ethics & Robot Rights: How AI Changes What It Means to Be Human" - Part two of my conversation with Siamak Goudarzi for the Nexter AI Group podcast.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2zK...

Empathy, Ethics & Robot Rights: How AI Changes What It Means to Be Human | Gunkel × Goudarzi Part 2

YouTube video by Nexter AI Group

www.youtube.com

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 5d

I had the opportunity to speak with Siamak Goudarzi about #AI personhood, #robotrights, and the moral/legal status of artifacts for the Nexter AI Group podcast. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvUa...

Virtual Personhood & the End of Human Exceptionalism | Siamak Goudarzi x Prof. David Gunkel

YouTube video by Nexter AI Group

www.youtube.com

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 6d

Interview about #GenerativeAI, authorship, and #ethics in the book "#AI Hokusai: Reflections on Art, #AI and Legacy" - aihokusai.art/report2025

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 6d

Photos from the "Rights for Robots?" event at Knox College a few weeks ago. My thanks to Robert Geraci for organizing the event and showing me around Galesburg, IL.

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 6d

My talk at the "Workshop on Emerging Topics in #AI: Consciousness and Moral Patienthood" Google NYC. Presenting material from "The Machine Question" trilogy @mitpress.bsky.social

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 7d

At Google NYC for the "Workshop on Emerging Topics in #AI: Consciousness and Moral Patienthood." And they are using one of my social media posts as the framing mechanism. I will be talking about "Person, Thing, Robot" @mitpress.bsky.social later this afternoon.

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 7d

No spoilers...that's in the book : )
But here's a hint: it is informed by Derrida's reading of the Phaedrus in "Plato's Pharmacy"

Reposted by Mark Coeckelbergh

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 8d

Judge a book by its cover.
The book that @coeckelbergh.bsky.social and I wrote on #LLMs and #GenAI --"Communicative #AI" @politybooks.bsky.social--is featured on the @betterimagesofai.bsky.social blog.

blog.betterimagesofai.org/better-image...

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 9d

Truth in advertising.

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 9d

Think of all the horrible things one would do with access to that kind of editorial power. I mean, we might even get a reel shot at world piece.

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 9d

Definitely have piqued my interest. Looking forward to the results of your empirical testing.

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 12d

And it has an interesting resonance with that 1960 essay from Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline that gave us the word "cyborg."

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 13d

And apparently just standing there waiting to be tapped for cooling server clusters.

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 13d

Accurate except for the Moose and the Mountains. Other than that, it's a perfect rendition of the northern part of Illinois.

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 13d

LLM 101: Critical Introduction to Large Language Models
This Friday (31 October 2025), I will be presenting material from the book "Communicative AI" @politybooks.bsky.social during a #NorthernExposureNIU workshop. 71 North Partnership Studio, Founders Memorial Library, Northern Illinois University.

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 15d

Brilliant name. Looks delicious.

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 15d

Envious....wish I could join you for this.

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 16d

I do not remember exactly, but it was definitely in that area. In any event, it was one of the best rental deals I ever had. I was in the area recently, and The Grandeur is a grand as it ever was.

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 17d

I think you have just found the title for your forthcoming memoir: "Looking Sideways"

Reposted by Henrik Skaug Sætra

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 17d

I am really excited about this new essay from Adrienne de Ruiter and published in "AI & Society." This just may be the most substantive, critical engagement with the relational turn as developed by @MCoeckelbergh and myself.
@springer.springernature.com
doi.org/10.1007/s001...

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 17d

It was a true pleasure spending time with you at your new academic home @americanuniversity.bsky.social It was great fun catching up. Perhaps we'll have another chance at SPEP (wink).

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 17d

It's Lakeview. And like all gentrifying areas of the city, it's now considered a prime location. And unfortunately one of the casualties of that development has been the loss of the iconic Char-Lar, our 4am bar across the street with the best motto ever: "Easy to find, hard to leave."

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 19d

Negroponte's revenge.

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 19d

Damn...we forgot the selfie! So did it really happen? How can it be proven?

Thanks for making the time for it. Really nice to (finally) have had the chance to sit down with you in what we used to call "meat space."

Reposted by David J. Gunkel

Aram Sinnreich @aramsinn.bsky.social · 19d

After several decades of mutual academic fandom and light remote collaboration, @davidgunkel.bsky.social and I finally met in person yesterday... and the universe didn't explode! We didn't wanna risk a selfie though

David Gunkel @davidgunkel.bsky.social · 19d

Definitely an intriguing idea.

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