The Data Fix with Dr. Mél Hogan

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

Listen to my conversation with Matthew Archer, author of Unsustainable: Measurement, Reporting, and the Limits of Corporate Sustainability. In his beautifully written book, Matthew makes a case for being highly skeptical of corporate sustainability initiatives, especially as they've become increasingly grounded in metrics of all kinds that measure just and exactly what the companies themselves determine to be worthy of measuring. Framing sustainability as a technical issue has been and continues to be a failure, and so we ask: what it might mean to take this criticism seriously? Recorded Feb 2, 2024. Released Apr 8, 2024.Unsustainable: Measurement, Reporting, and the Limits of Corporate Sustainability (Feb 2024, Published by NYU Press)https://nyupress.org/9781479822027/unsustainable/

Together, Sireesh Gururaja, Amanda Bertsch and Clara Na explain the paradigm shifts in Natural Language Processing that they've noticed themselves, observed in the community, and documented through a series of interviews with NLP researchers. They share their hopes for the NLP field -- as less focused on benchmarks, and as more self-reflexive and ethically-driven -- moving forward. Recorded Jan 19, 2024. Released March 25, 2024. To Build Our Future, We Must Know Our Past: Contextualizing Paradigm Shifts in Natural Language Processingby Sireesh Gururaja, Amanda Bertsch, Clara Na, David Gray Widder, Emma Strubellhttps://arxiv.org/abs/2310.07715

Steph Maj Swanson, aka Supercomposite and I discuss the spooky Loab phenomenon, generative adversarial network, negative prompts and the demons (maybe?) lurking in large datasets. Recorded Jan 19, 2024. Released March 11, 2024. What I Learned from Loab: AI as a creative adversaryThe artist behind the viral cryptid "Loab" reflects on her critical relationship to AI art toolshttps://media.ccc.de/v/37c3-12052-what_i_learned_from_loab_ai_as_a_creative_adversary Original Twitter thread:https://twitter.com/supercomposite/status/1567162288087470081?lang=enInstahttps://www.instagram.com/supercomposite/

Kyriaki Goni - an artist with a background in social and cultural anthropology - and I start our conversation reflecting back on the lockdowns of April 2020 in Athens; what this signified, and how it shaped her art, which ultimately manifested as "The Portal or Let’s Stand Still for the Whales", which was a reflection on the tensions between the darkness of pandemic realities and the quiet restoration of natural things in her surroundings, and beyond. We also talk about "Perfect Love #couplegoals #AIgenerated, 2020,2022", as an exploration of intimacy, doomscrolling and isolation. We finish our conversation on "Not Allowed for Algorithmic Audiences, 2021" which focuses more specifically on 'audio assistant' tech, and the way algorithms pull audio from social media and various corners of the internet to then classify and reorganize the way we're listened to and heard. One of the (MANY) things I love about Kyriaki's work is that it is decidedly not preachy -- instead it holds a mirror to the audience to reflect gently, and in their own time, on the significance of technology in various contexts. Recorded Jan 12, 2024. Released Feb 26, 2024.KYRIAKI GONIhttps://kyriakigoni.com/ANTHROPOCENE ON HOLDhttps://www.pcai.gr/anthroposcene-on-holdNOT ALLOWED FOR ALGORITHMIC AUDIENCESMarch 23, 2023–April 29, 2023The Breeder Feederhttps://thebreedersystem.com/uncategorized/kyriaki-goni_-not-allowed-for-algorithmic-audiences/ studio international: Kyriaki Goni – interview: ‘For me, technology is an existential discussion’https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/kyriaki-goni-interview-for-me-technology-is-existential-discussion-data-garden-blenheim-walk-gallery-leeds-arts-university

Most of us researching data centers have come to rely on various figures and stats telling us how environmentally impactful the internet has become: how big is the footprint? how much energy is used? Anne Pasek and I discuss in this episode just how these things get tallied, and by whom, and to what ends. We also discuss what gets omitted in these calculations, and how a "relational footprinting" approach might help us situate our knowledge about this topic. We also briefly talk about open access publishing and the power of zines in particular. Recorded Dec 12, 2023. Released Feb 12, 2024.Digital Energeticshttps://meson.press/books/digital-energetics/ Getting Into Fights with Data Centers (zine)https://emmlab.info/Resources_page/Data%20Center%20Fights_digital.pdfPasek, A., Vaughan, H., & Starosielski, N. (2023). The world wide web of carbon: Toward a relational footprinting of information and communications technology’s climate impacts. Big Data & Society, 10(1).

Teaching in times of generative AI is weird, and sometimes wonderful. Tobias Williams and I discuss what it means to make art and teach art at this juncture and the conflicted feelings that emerge from resisting with the tools of creation. Recorded Oct 10, 2023. Released Dec 25, 2023.Profilehttp://tobiasjwilliams.comInstagramhttps://www.instagram.com/getrichnever/

Irene Niet and I have a conversation about how researchers might consider the environmental impacts of AI in relation to their social consequences, and in relation to their impacts on democracy. Recorded Oct 16, 2023. Released Dec 11, 2023.Research profilehttps://research.tue.nl/en/persons/irene-a-nietDigital (Un)sustainability - Routledgehttps://crowdusg.net/2022/06/06/digital-unsustainabilities-call-for-chapters/

Ever wonder about the microchips in your car? MC Forelle and I talk about the “chipification” process of cars, since the 70s and 80s, and how these processes and logics see to increased corporate control and surveillance, while making opting out and DIY tinkering more difficult. We briefly touch on subscription model for automotive features — like BMW did for its heated seats not long ago — remember that? Recorded Oct 5, 2023. Released Nov 27, 2023.The material consequences of “chipification”: The case of software-embedded carshttps://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/doi/full/10.1177/20539517221095429