Simple Sabotage: A Field Manual for Refusing Corporate AI In-Person / Online
Simple Sabotage was a document written by the US Office of Strategic Services in 1944 to train everyday citizens to thwart the forces of fascism (a resource garnering renewed attention in this particular political moment). This quick fix workshop is a tongue-in-cheek update to train citizen-saboteurs to thwart the predetermined inevitability of corporate AI from micro to the macro: a history of GenAI, opportunities for data liberation, local LLMs, resisting corporate software by switching to Linux, everyday data privacy practices like turning of Connected Experiences in M365, and more. We'll explore tangible everyday practices to motivate the saboteur (you!) and provide them with specific suggestions for tools, targets, timing to resist and re-imagine AI futures.
No experience except your lived experience is necessary. While we aren't all against all AI, understanding how it works and making intentional decisions about how, when, and whose data is used is increasingly important. Join us to talk tactics!
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Describe the history of GenAI and how it works
- Identify potential sources for data liberation
- Choose alternative platforms or configure settings to protect your privacy
- Propose possible pathways to re-imagine AI futures.
Details: Any preparatory work for the session can be found on its information page. This virtual workshop will be recorded and shared on the same page, and discoverable via the Sherman Centre's Online Learning Catalogue.
Certificate Eligibility: This workshop is eligible for the Sherman Centre's certificate program. For more information, visit scds.ca/certificate-program. It is also eligible for the Canadian Certificate for Digital Humanities. To learn more, visit ccdhhn.ca or contact scds@mcmaster.ca.
- Date:
- Thursday, November 5, 2026
- Time:
- 1:00pm - 2:00pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship (1st Floor, Mills Library)
- Audience:
- McMaster + Community
- Categories:
- DMDS DRI Training SCDS Sponsored Events Workshops
CODE OF CONDUCT
The Sherman Centre and the McMaster University Libraries are committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment for its presenters and participants. As a participant in this session, you agree to support and help cultivate an experience that is collaborative, respectful, and inclusive, as well as free of harassment, discrimination, and oppression. We reserve the right to remove participants who exhibit harassing, malicious or persistently disruptive behaviour.
We strive to make this event accessible to everyone. Where possible, sessions are recorded and include live captioning, and we will share recordings, slides, and transcripts afterward so you can revisit the content at your own pace. Because these materials are provided, and to help protect participant privacy and consent, we ask that attendees do not use AI note-taking or automated recording tools (such as Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, Zoom AI Companion, or similar apps) without prior permission from the organizers.
Please refer to our code of conduct webpage for more information.
Danica Evering is a Research Data Management Specialist grounded in curiosity and a deep commitment to ethics. They braid together broad fluency in social practice art, healthcare, community research, data, and systems development to provide comprehensive RDM services. Danica is available to help students, postdocs, faculty, and staff with RDM through the data lifecycle—Data Management Plans, storage and backup, data security, data sharing. Danica fosters active interest in research data management across disciplines, with a knack for engaging researchers who might not even realize they have data to manage. Outside of work they sing in a choir, play PC games, maintain an art writing practice, grow a garden, contribute Wikipedia articles, and run.
John Fink is the Digital Scholarship Librarian at the Sherman Centre. John’s (he/they) talents lie in complex and innovative systems administration, project management and hardware infrastructure. He also has an interest in the maker/hacker element in digital scholarship, and is frequently spotted tinkering with esoteric hardware. If you are interested in having the Sherman Centre support your project, John is an excellent first contact.
The Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship supports McMaster students, faculty, and staff, as well as anyone curious about digital scholarship. From research and teaching to training and technical support, we’re here to help bring digital projects to life at every stage!
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