The Big Gay Read | The Algorithm’s Gonna Get You: What Datafication Means to Queer Stories and AI in Hollywood

NOTE THIS EVENT HAS ALREADY OCCURRED

Date(s): Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Time: 6:30pm-7:30pm
Venue: Pittsfield Branch of AADL
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In Chuck Tingle’s novel Bury Your Gays, a screenwriter desperately tries to preserve authentic characters and storylines in an era increasingly driven by Big Data and AI. But how much of what the book depicts is actually true of Hollywood today? And what do queer fans have in common with union screenwriters and actors? Oakland University professor Bridget Kies examines how datafication – the increasing use of algorithms, data mining, and AI – is shaping Hollywood today, from determining which movies get made to creating synthetic actors to measuring audiences and their tastes. Today’s on-screen representation of LGBTQ characters is also subject to data-driven decision making, but, as Kies demonstrates, queer fans, much like the screenwriters and actors who went on strike in recent years, have found powerful ways to push back against this AI turn.

For adult & teens.

Bridget Kies is Associate Professor of Film Studies and Production and Assistant Director of the Women and Gender Studies Program at Oakland University. Her research examines queer media, audiences and fans, and cultural responses to AI. She is co-author of Teaching AI in Film and Media Studies (2025) and co-editor of Fandom, the Next Generation (2022). Her book on the iconic TV series Murder, She Wrote was published by Wayne State University Press (2025), and her research on queer media and fans has been published in numerous academic journals and edited collections. She is currently in the final stages of a book examining how popular television of the 1980s presented images of queerness to mainstream audiences, to be published in 2027.

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