next in this issue is @ranjodhdhaliwal.com, on our role as generative AI's involuntary beta testers.

Nicolas Gourault's fantastic short experimental documentary film «Their Eyes» about the invisible human labor behind AI, which we showed and discussed at our «React & Respond» conference in Zurich last year, is now streaming on the NYT website www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/o...

"There’s a stealth neoplatonism embedded in the term “scientific discovery,” as if discoveries exist in some ideal realm waiting to be accessed—or in the video-game addled vocabulary of contemporary science policy—waiting to be “unlocked.” artificialbureaucracy.substack.com/p/context-wi...

🎉 Neu erschienen: www.campus.de/e-books/wiss... Wir ziehen darin eine Linie von der Psychotechnik des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts zu den algorithmischen Psychotechnologien der Gegenwart. Wir danken unseren Beiträger·innen und dem Campus Verlag für die tolle Zusammenarbeit!

Our article on the politics of AI prompts is out now @econsocjournal.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... 1/n

NEW: Since October 2023, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit has released dozens of 3D animations illustrating alleged Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian sites The style is now unmistakable: satellite zoom-ins, black & white wireframes, and red-textured houses - a new visual language of war

I am still processing the many impressions, insights and ideas that emerged from our conference. Many heartfelt thanks to all the speakers for their inspiring contributions and the intensive discussion—it was great to welcome you all to Zurich, and I hope we'll be able to continue the conversation!

How do platforms shape the way we see, share & react to images? Join React & Respond, international conference on image cultures under platform capitalism, October 2–4. Open to all, register now: www.zhdk.ch/veranstaltun... @bildoperationen.bsky.social @zhdk.bsky.social @zkk-zurich.bsky.social

For edification, the reason why "AI enhancement" of images doesn't work is that it is synthetically generating information that *wasn't present* in the original image. You can't fabricate synthetic information and then use it as "evidence" for analysis and identification of aspects of the real world

🚨The Critical AI Seminar Series returns in 2025/2026 ✨ This year we will have four talks and are beyond excited to welcome @amoorelouise.bsky.social & @alexcampolo.bsky.social, Fabian Offert, Helene Ratner & @nannathylstrup.bsky.social and @thaophan.bsky.social ✨ Sign up: bit.ly/uvacriticala...

From 02–04 October 2025, our conference «React & Respond. Image Cultures under Platform Capitalism» will take place in Zurich. Across three locations and with contributions by scholars and artists, the conference will analyze today's economies of networked image cultures. Program & Registration:

Attractive job offer at the University of Zurich: Lecturer Teaching position in Digital Methods for the Study of Visual Cultural Data, 100%, permanent position Please share widely! #DigitalHumanitie #JobAlert jobs.uzh.ch/job-vacancie...

We are looking forward to an exciting evening with Antonio Somaini at Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, where he will present «A Theory of Latent Spaces» on the 2nd of June at 7pm! The event is organized in cooperation with the @zkk-zurich.bsky.social and the Department of Film Studies (UZH)

On our new account @digitalculturesandarts.ch, my dear colleague @larspinkwart.com and I will announce events, projects and publications and share news about our work on digital cultures and arts at the University of Zurich and the Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK – stay tuned for updates!

Save the Date: Am 22. und 23. Mai findet der Workshop «Plattform-Politiken» der AG Interfaces in der Gesellschaft für Medienwissenschaft (GfM) an der HfG Karlsruhe statt – freu mich darauf und bin sehr gespannt! ag-interfaces.net/2025/05/12/w...

Dear #STS friends, Very happy to announce the Call for Papers for the upcoming STS-CH 2025 Conference, taking place from September 10–12, 2025, in Zurich! You can consult the list of panels, and much more, here: sts-ch.org/sts-ch-2025/ We look forward to seeing you soon! 🤗

Kolleg:innen aus Wissenschaftsphilosophie und Technikgeschichte aller Länder, bewerbt Euch! ethz.ch/de/die-eth-z...

The MPIfG is seeking a research group leader (tenure track) with a focus on the socioeconomic and political impacts of technological change to set up a new research group at the intersection of #economy, #society, and #technology. 📢Please share widely! s.gwdg.de/SULoAf

Übernächste Woche, am 7. April 2025 um 18:15h, findet meine Antrittsvorlesung an der Uni Zürich statt, zu der ich sehr herzlich einlade. Wer vorbeikommen möchte, kann mir gerne per DM oder Kommentar Bescheid geben, ich würde mich sehr freuen, mit Euch beim anschliessenden Apéro anzustossen! 1/

We're pleased to announce our upcoming series: "AI and the Digital" convened and hosted by Dr. Audrey Borowski featuring @hannesbajohr.de, Nicholas Carr, Renee DiResta, @cameronbuckner.bsky.social, Pireeni Sundaralingam, Nicholas Halmi, and @shannonvallor.bsky.social. #PhilSky #PhilEvent #PhilTech

I am hiring a postdoc! Excellent research support, minimal teaching load, and an overall wonderful set up. The research focus is flexible as long as some part of your practice involves critical making or hands-on research in some form. (1/3)

With input from friends, I’ve made a starter pack of early-career researchers across digital geography, STS, and critical AI studies. It isn’t meant to be definitive or exhaustive (though somewhat arbitrary at this stage), so please feel free to comment your own or others’ names for inclusion!

The Journal of Continental Philosophy has just published my latest article, “The Computational Search for Unity: Synthesis in Generative AI”. I address the representational reality of LLMs through the philosophical concept of synthesis. Online First PDF here: www.pdcnet.org/pdc/bvdb.nsf...

Welcome to the age of the geolocated statistical world picture: «By training an AI model on millions of geolocated images from around the world, the model will be able to predict its immediate environment in the same way an LLM is able to produce coherent and convincing sentences ...»

This is such an interesting argument that LLMs learn “rare” events and syntax by generalisation from the more common (ie not simply from memorization or repetition of training). As ever, we should take seriously the challenge for social & political critique. The rare event is differently constituted

Yesterday, a journalist asked me if I thought we were on a "path to AGI". I replied that I thought AGI would be "redefined into existence" by big companies. I didn't realize that would happen so soon. www.nytimes.com/2024/10/17/t...

Very much looking forward to this event: «AS WE MAY SEE. Tracking and Tracing the Image after Farocki», Oct. 30 - Nov. 1 in Zurich, organized by the Farocki Forum at the Department of Film Studies at the University of Zurich in cooperation with the Center for Arts and Cultural Theory (UZH and ZHdK)

My new article is out in UMBAU: "Resilient Models. Training on Volatility": umbau.hfg-karlsruhe.de/posts/resili...