In a time of relentless pursuit of artificial intelligence, this TransforM Seminar Series seeks to temper the glittering promises of computation and take seriously the promise of contingency as an analytical virtue. “It could be otherwise” has long been a rallying cry for those who seek to resist technological determinism and articulate other stories about technology, progress, and modernity.
How, then, can the social sciences help articulate stories other than those of impending (AI) salvation or doom? How can we help articulate a space for reflection and choice in a world drenched in stories of the extreme?
This talk explores how the social sciences can attend to – and help articulate – moments of choice in computational knowledge infrastructures. Through three vignettes focusing on agency, absences, and thresholds, the talk explores how the social sciences can help open up possibilities for caring computation. In doing so, it takes seriously the possibilities for creating a reflexive ontological politics of computation.
About the speaker
Francis Lee is Professor of Science & Technology Studies at Södertörn University in Stockholm, Sweden. His research examines how digital technologies—such as algorithms, artificial intelligence, and big data infrastructures—shape our understanding of the world.
He currently co-directs the research platform on Synthetic Data in WASP-HS and the InterSynth Lab, where his work explores how synthetic data are made credible and trustworthy through practical chains of reference between models, data, and the worlds they represent. He is engaged in several research projects that you can find more information about here.
About the event
This is an in-person event. No registration is needed.
TransforM’s Seminar Series is a space for cross-disciplinary conversation on transformative technologies and their socio-economic impact. It brings leading academics and international experts for open, research-driven discussions on the technologies reshaping our economies, institutions and everyday lives.
