The Data Fix with Dr. Mél Hogan

Everyone should read Lisa Yin Han's Deepwater Alchemy! It's a stunningly well written book about how we come to value the ocean through various extractive mediations. Recorded Sept 27, 2024. Released Oct 14, 2024.Deepwater Alchemy: Extractive Mediation and the Taming of the SeafloorHow underwater mediation has transformed deep-sea spaces into resource-rich frontiershttps://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517915940/deepwater-alchemy

It was such an honour to be in conversation with Siobhan Angus about what can only be describe as a masterpiece: her book Camera Geologica. Recorded August 8, 2024. Released Sept 9, 2024.Camera Geologica: An Elemental History of Photographyhttps://www.dukeupress.edu/camera-geologica

In this episode, I speak with my dear friend and colleague, Leslie R. Shade about the importance of media reform from an intersectional feminist political economic perspective! Recorded Aug 1. Released Aug 26, 2024.Chapter 5: From Media Reform to Data Justice: Situating Women's Rights as Human Rights from The Handbook of Gender, Communication, and Women's Human Rights Margaret Gallagher (Editor), Aimee Vega Montiel (Editor) ISBN: 978-1-119-80068-2 November 2023, Wiley-Blackwell https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Handbook+of+Gender%2C+Communication%2C+and+Women's+Human+Rights-p-9781119800682#tableofcontents-section Read all her work here: https://discover.research.utoronto.ca/2541-leslie-shade/publications

Alina Utrata and I have a conversation about billionaires conquering space for personal pleasure, in the pursuit of energy sources or minerals, or, to push forward a longtermist interplanetary movement. Alina explains how when we think about outer space as "empty", we unwittingly thinking territorially -- an incredibly valuable contribution to critical space scholarship. Recorded May 20. Released June 24, 2024.Engineering Territory: Space and Colonies in Silicon Valleyhttps://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/engineering-territory-space-and-colonies-in-silicon-valley/5D6EA4D306E8F3E0465F4A05C89454D6

I invited Lee Vinsel to discuss with me a post he wrote from a workshop on "Politics of Controlling Powerful Technologies". In this episode we discuss how futures are (imagined to be) predicted through data modelling and crunching numbers, and how various alternatives to these statistical imaginaries also come short of knowing what awaits us. Can we stand to not know? And if we don't know what the future holds, how do we plan politically? Recorded April 19. Released June 10, 2024. How to Be a Better Reactionary: Time and Knowledge in Technology Regulationhttps://sts-news.medium.com/how-to-be-a-better-reactionary-1630b5098fbc

In this episode, Lisa Messeri and M. J. Crockett discuss how scientists are in danger of overlooking AI tools’ limitations, and how science is made stronger by questioning its obsession with objectivity. Recorded April 18, 2024. Released May 27, 2024.Artificial intelligence and illusions of understanding in scientific researchLisa Messeri & M. J. Crockett  Nature volume 627, pages49–58 (2024)Cite this articlehttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07146-0

In this episode, Shaolei Ren and I discuss the relationship between water and generative AI. We delve into what happens to water in the (very thirsty) data center, what it's used for, and how much fresh water the AI revolution will ask of the planet in the future, and at what costs. Big Tech doesn't yet disclose its water withdrawal or consumption, so researcher like Shaolei Ren take up the work and propose solutions for a more sustainable future for AI. Recorded April 19, 2024. Released May 13, 2024.

With Catherine Stinson and Sophie Vlaad, we discuss what diversity means in the context of AI -- its applications, conceptualizations, teams, institutions, networks, members, and ideals. As they ask in a recent article, "diversity" is often proposed as a solution to ethical problems in artificial intelligence (AI), but what exactly is meant by "diversity" and how it can it solve those problems? Recorded March 22, 2024. Released April 22, 2024.A feeling for the algorithm: Diversity, expertise, and artificial intelligenceStinson, C., & Vlaad, S. (2024). A feeling for the algorithm: Diversity, expertise, and artificial intelligence. Big Data & Society, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517231224247