Jekyll2022-05-06T14:36:27+00:00https://bristol-data-science-society.github.io/tech-society/feed.xmlRoman Shkunov2022-05-06T11:00:00+00:002022-05-06T11:00:00+00:00https://bristol-data-science-society.github.io/tech-society/discussion/2022/05/06/ai-art<p><strong>Event date/time: 6-7pm, 10th May 2022</strong></p> <p><strong>Event location: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thewhitebearbristol/">The White Bear</a></strong></p> <p><strong>Reading: “AI is Blurring the Definition of Artist”</strong> by Ahmed Elgammal. <a href="https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A579092374/AONE?u=univbri&amp;sid=googleScholar&amp;xid=f079926a">Web version</a> <a href="https://bit.ly/tech-society-ai-art">PDF version</a></p> <p>Modern technologies are reshaping human activities, including those originally thought to be uniquely ‘human’ and ‘creative’. One of many such areas being transformed by AI is art, where new technologies such as Open AI’s <a href="https://openai.com/dall-e-2/">DALL-E 2</a> are able to create and edit images based on a short text prompt. Does this new wave of creative AI threaten the purported uniqueness of humans? Or is it just another tool to help human artists create even better art? Can AI create art, and what do we mean by ‘art’ anyway?</p> <p>These are the questions we’ll be discussing as a group at this event. The format of the event will be a free-flowing discussion centred around the short reading “AI is Blurring the Definition of Artist”; everyone is welcome to come, regardless of background!</p>Roman Shkunov

Event date/time: 6-7pm, 10th May 2022

2022-03-11T11:00:00+00:002022-03-11T11:00:00+00:00https://bristol-data-science-society.github.io/tech-society/discussion/2022/03/11/dating-apps<p><strong>Event date/time: 6-7pm, 15th March 2022</strong></p> <p><strong>Event location: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thewhitebearbristol/">The White Bear</a></strong></p> <p><strong>Reading: <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/dont-fall-in-love-okcupid/">“Don’t Fall in Love on OkCupid”</a></strong> by Benjamin Winterhalter</p> <p>How do we find love? It seems that dating apps have turned the search for romance into a game, one with mindless scrolling, in-app purchases, and a focus on appearances above all else. In dating apps, algorithms mediate your dating choices, and this has the potential to dramatically change the way we look for love. In this discussion group, we’ll be discussing questions such as:</p> <ul> <li>Do dating apps help people find love?</li> <li>How is technology changing romance?</li> <li>Can an algorithm identify your perfect partner?</li> </ul> <h3 id="further-reading">Further Reading</h3> <p>Jo Sales, Nancy. “Tinder and the Dawn of the “Dating Apocalypse”.” Vanity Fair (2015). Available online <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/08/tinder-hook-up-culture-end-of-dating">here</a>.</p> <p>Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas. “The Tinder effect: psychology of dating in the technosexual era.” The Guardian UK (2014). Available online <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/jan/17/tinder-dating-psychology-technosexual">here</a>.</p> <p>Bruch, Elizabeth E., and M. E. J. Newman. “Aspirational pursuit of mates in online dating markets.” Science Advances 4.8 (2018). Available online <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aap9815">here</a>.</p> <p>Albury, Kath, et al. “Data cultures of mobile dating and hook-up apps: Emerging issues for critical social science research.” Big Data &amp; Society 4.2 (2017) Available online <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951717720950">here</a>.</p>Roman Shkunov

Event date/time: 6-7pm, 15th March 2022

2022-02-17T18:00:00+00:002022-02-17T18:00:00+00:00https://bristol-data-science-society.github.io/tech-society/discussion/2022/02/17/self-driving-cars<p><strong>Event date/time: 6-7pm, 1st March 2022</strong></p> <p><strong>Event location: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thewhitebearbristol/">The White Bear</a></strong></p> <p><strong>Reading: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ngi-Z9zAgCHVMs_VaO6ErgZb61oLwoqJ/view?usp=sharing">“Self-driving cars will take a while to get right”</a></strong> by Jack Stilgoe (online Nature article available <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42256-019-0046-z">here</a>)</p> <p>Cars cause thousands of deaths and injuries on the road each year, and many blame human error of drivers for this needless loss of life. Self-driving cars have been proposed as a solution to this problem, but will they actually help reduce road accidents? Do we want self-driving cars in the first place? And when will they reach a point where they will become ‘safe’ - whatever that means?</p> <p>This short, 2-page reading from Jack Stilgoe explores these questions and more. We welcome anyone who’s interested in the consequences of self-driving cars on society!</p> <h3 id="further-reading">Further Reading</h3> <p><em>To be added later</em></p>Roman Shkunov

Event date/time: 6-7pm, 1st March 2022

2022-02-13T12:00:00+00:002022-02-13T12:00:00+00:00https://bristol-data-science-society.github.io/tech-society/discussion/2022/02/13/neo-luddism<p><strong>Event date/time: 6-7pm, 15th February 2022</strong></p> <p><strong>Event location: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thewhitebearbristol/">The White Bear</a></strong></p> <p><strong>Reading: an <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/113kaMj1G-0aWd8qeMMxJUtEwczem3UFa/view?usp=sharing">edited extract from “Luddism for These Ludicrous Times”</a></strong> from the blog <a href="https://librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/luddism-for-these-ludicrous-times/">LibrarianShipwreck</a></p> <p>In recent years, critiquing technology has become ever more common: from automated data harvesting on entire populations by the NSA to concerns that self-driving trucks may put thousands out of work, people are concerned about tech’s impact on society. Some even say that we should be turning the clock back on technology, or should dismantle the complex systems that comprise (and govern) our lives.</p> <p>In this discussion group, we’ll be talking about 21st century Luddism (neo-Luddism), the movement against the widespread advanced technologies, for the sake of helping society. We’ll be asking questions such as:</p> <ul> <li>Who are Luddites and neo-Luddites?</li> <li>Should we adopt Luddism and radically re-think what role technology plays in our lives, perhaps banishing technology altogether?</li> <li>What really is ‘technology’, and is its development inevitable?</li> </ul> <h3 id="further-reading">Further Reading</h3> <p><em>For an introduction to neo-luddism:</em></p> <p>Bartlett, Jamie. “Will 2018 be the year of the neo-luddite?” The Guardian, 2018. Available online at: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/04/will-2018-be-the-year-of-the-neo-luddite">https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/04/will-2018-be-the-year-of-the-neo-luddite</a></p> <p>Sadowski, Jathan. “I’m a Luddite. You should be one too” The Conversation, 2021. Available online at: <a href="https://theconversation.com/im-a-luddite-you-should-be-one-too-163172">https://theconversation.com/im-a-luddite-you-should-be-one-too-163172</a></p> <p><em>To find out more about Luddism and related movements, including anarcho-primitivism:</em></p> <p>Jones, Steven E. “Against Technology: From the Luddites to Neo-Luddism”. Routledge, 2006.</p> <p>Zerzan, John. “Future primitive: And other essays”. New York: Autonomedia, 1994. Available online at: <a href="https://libcom.org/files/FuturePrimitive.pdf">https://libcom.org/files/FuturePrimitive.pdf</a></p> <p><em>For more on ‘epistemological Luddism’:</em></p> <p>Winner, Langdon. “Autonomous technology: technics-out-of-control as a theme in political thought”. MIT Press, 1977.</p> <p>Lachney, Michael and Dotson, Taylor. “Epistemological Luddism: Reinvigorating a Concept for Action in 21st Century Sociotechnical Struggles”. Social Epistemology 32.4 (2018): 228-240. Available online at: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2018.1476603">https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2018.1476603</a></p>Roman Shkunov

Event date/time: 6-7pm, 15th February 2022

2022-02-01T12:00:00+00:002022-02-01T12:00:00+00:00https://bristol-data-science-society.github.io/tech-society/jekyll/update/2022/02/01/transhumanism<p><strong>Event date/time: 6-7pm, 1st February 2022</strong></p> <p><strong>Event location: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thewhitebearbristol/">The White Bear</a></strong></p> <p><strong>Reading: <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053951718820549">“Transhumanist values”</a></strong> by Nick Bostrom</p> <p>Could technology help humans live better and longer? Could we augment the human body to open new opportunities for individuals and society? Will such augmentation help society thrive, or deepen existing inequalities?</p> <p>These are the questions we’ll be asking in this reading group, where we’ll be discussing Nick Bostrom’s <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053951718820549">“Transhumanist values”</a>. Everyone is welcome to join us – you don’t need a background in technology/biology to join the discussion, just a curiosity about how technology can be used to change society by augmenting the human body!</p> <h3 id="further-reading">Further Reading</h3> <p>Kleeman, Jenny. “Sex Robots &amp; Vegan Meat: Adventures at the Frontier of Birth, Food, Sex &amp; Death”. Picador, 2020.</p> <p>Cuboniks, Laboria. “The Xenofeminist manifesto: a politics for alienation”. Verso Trade, 2018. Available online at: <a href="https://www.laboriacuboniks.net/20150612-xf_layout_web.pdf">(link)</a></p>Roman Shkunov

Event date/time: 6-7pm, 1st February 2022

2021-11-30T12:00:00+00:002021-11-30T12:00:00+00:00https://bristol-data-science-society.github.io/tech-society/jekyll/update/2021/11/30/data-is-capital<p><strong>Event date/time: 6-7pm, 30th November 2021</strong></p> <p><strong>Event location: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thewhitebearbristol/">The White Bear</a></strong></p> <p><strong>Reading: <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053951718820549">“When data is capital: Datafication, accumulation, and extraction”</a></strong> by Jathan Sadowski</p> <p>This article covers the issue of how data has become central to modern capitalism, and how it can be viewed as a form of capital (much like money) that is extracted from users by large corporations and institutions. We’ll be asking questions such as:</p> <ul> <li>How is your data used as capital?</li> <li>What are the economic consequences of collecting and using more data?</li> <li>To what extent is data a ‘natural resource’ or ‘manufactured’?</li> <li>Does datafication lead to greater inequality or not?</li> </ul> <p>This article is 9 pages long; we’d recommend reading all of it, but if you’re very tight for time, make sure to cover the Introduction and Conclusion. There is more social science terminology in this paper than past readings - if anything is unclear, make a note of it and we’ll go through it on the day!</p> <h3 id="further-reading">Further Reading</h3> <p>Andrejevic, Mark B. “Surveillance and alienation in the online economy.” Surveillance &amp; Society 8, no. 3 (2011): 278-287. <a href="https://doi.org/10.24908/ss.v8i3.4164">(link)</a> Srnicek, Nick. Platform capitalism. John Wiley &amp; Sons, 2017. <a href="https://bris.on.worldcat.org/v2/oclc/964878395">(link)</a></p> <p>Couldry, Nick, and Ulises A. Mejias. “Data Colonialism: Rethinking Big Data’s Relation to the Contemporary Subject.” Television &amp; New Media 20, no. 4 (May 2019): 336–49. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476418796632">(link)</a>.</p> <p>Campbell, John Edward, and Matt Carlson. “Panopticon. com: Online surveillance and the commodification of privacy.” Journal of Broadcasting &amp; Electronic Media 46, no. 4 (2002): 586-606. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1207/s15506878jobem4604_6">(link)</a></p>Roman Shkunov

Event date/time: 6-7pm, 30th November 2021

2021-11-18T12:00:00+00:002021-11-18T12:00:00+00:00https://bristol-data-science-society.github.io/tech-society/jekyll/update/2021/11/18/gender-discrimination-tech<p><strong>Event date/time: 1-2pm, 18th November 2021</strong></p> <p><strong>Event location: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thewhitebearbristol/">The White Bear</a></strong></p> <p><strong>Reading: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EPHWE-9UCSkPRXgs05cxRDuf0tzBj6w-/view">“Sexism is a Feature, Not a Bug”</a></strong> by Mar Hicks, a chapter from the book <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/your-computer-fire">“Your Computer Is On Fire”</a></p> <p>For the 4th tech &amp; society discussion, we are partnering with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/womeninengbristol">Women in Engineering Bristol</a>! Everyone is welcome to join; we’ll be meeting at the White Bear to discuss Mar Hicks’ chapter “Sexism is a Feature, Not a Bug” (free PDF <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EPHWE-9UCSkPRXgs05cxRDuf0tzBj6w-/view">here</a>) about the history of women in the UK’s computing industry, including how discrimination against women led to Britain losing its competitive advantage in computing. The chapter is 20 pages long, so if you’re tight for time, make sure to read pages 138-142 (4-8 in the PDF) and 153-155 (19-21 in the PDF).</p>Roman Shkunov

Event date/time: 1-2pm, 18th November 2021

2021-11-02T12:00:00+00:002021-11-02T12:00:00+00:00https://bristol-data-science-society.github.io/tech-society/jekyll/update/2021/11/02/typing-is-dead<p><strong>Event date/time: 6-7pm, 2nd November 2021</strong></p> <p><strong>Event location: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thewhitebearbristol/">The White Bear</a></strong></p> <p><strong>Reading: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J5KMI6spr6q7yObwYVwfQf6HDFp2gsod/view">“Typing is Dead”</a></strong> by Thomas Mullaney, a chapter from the book <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/your-computer-fire">“Your Computer Is On Fire”</a></p> <p>This reading explores how QWERTY became such a popular keyboard layout, despite being incompatible with writing systems used by most of the world, and what this says about global inequalities in technology.</p> <p>We’ll be discussing the whole chapter, but if you’re running short on time, make sure to read pages 1-6 and 20-21 of the PDF.</p> <p>Questions we’ll be asking at the discussion include:</p> <ul> <li>What assumptions are baked into the QWERTY (and similar) keyboard layouts? How do these assumptions show up in other technologies?</li> <li>Is there a trade-off between ease of development and inclusivity when building technologies? Or is this a false dichotomy - should we be looking at tech development in other ways?</li> <li>What are the consequences of one culture’s technologies becoming the standard across the world?</li> <li>What does the story of typing in the world tell us about global technological inequalities?</li> </ul>Roman Shkunov

Event date/time: 6-7pm, 2nd November 2021

2021-10-19T12:00:00+00:002021-10-19T12:00:00+00:00https://bristol-data-science-society.github.io/tech-society/jekyll/update/2021/10/19/automation-human-labour<p><strong>Event date/time: 6-7pm, 19th October 2021</strong></p> <p><strong>Event location: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thewhitebearbristol/">The White Bear</a></strong></p> <p><strong>Reading: <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3014390">“The Hidden Faces of Automation”</a></strong> by Lily Irani</p> <p>According to many, automation is set to make our lives easier and more fulfilling: menial human labour will be eliminated, allowing people to focus on what they really want to do. But is this true? Does automation actually eliminate rote tasks, and will it bring benefits to everyone? For this discussion group, we’ll be talking about Lily Irani’s article <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3014390">“The Hidden Faces of Automation”</a>, which questions dominant narratives that claim automation eliminates human labour. Irani explores the workers that make platforms like Google and Facebook tick, and why their work is often hidden from view. Some questions we’ll discuss include:</p> <ul> <li>What roles do humans play in automated systems? Is it likely some of these roles may disappear in the future or not?</li> <li>Why are some workers hidden from view, while others (e.g., software engineers and designers) are made highly visible?</li> <li>What are the consequences of using contracted workers instead of full-time employees for training automated systems?</li> </ul> <h3 id="further-reading">Further Reading</h3> <p>“Responsible Research with Crowds: Pay Crowdworkers at Least Minimum Wage” by M S Silberman et al; <a href="https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2018/3/225476-responsible-research-with-crowds/fulltext">(link)</a></p> <p>“Digital labour and development: impacts of global digital labour platforms and the gig economy on worker livelihoods” by M Graham et al; <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1024258916687250">(link)</a></p> <p>“Lifting the curtain: Strategic visibility of human labour in AI-as-a-Service” by G Newlands; <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20539517211016026">(link)</a></p>Roman Shkunov

Event date/time: 6-7pm, 19th October 2021

2021-10-05T12:00:00+00:002021-10-05T12:00:00+00:00https://bristol-data-science-society.github.io/tech-society/jekyll/update/2021/10/05/facial-recognition<p><strong>Event date/time: 6-7pm, 5th October 2021</strong></p> <p><strong>Event location: The Robin Hood</strong> (which turned out to be closed so we instead went to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thewhitebearbristol/">The White Bear</a>)</p> <p><strong>Reading: <a href="https://www.hownormalami.eu/">“How Normal Am I?”</a></strong></p> <p>For the first Tech and Society Discussion Group meetup, we’ll be discussing <a href="https://www.hownormalami.eu/">“How Normal Am I?”</a>, an interactive demonstration of how artificial intelligence perceives your face. Everyone interested who’s a student is welcome to join; we’ll be discussing questions such as:</p> <ul> <li>Can facial recognition really calculate someone’s age and demographics?</li> <li>Is it morally acceptable to have AI assign beauty scores to people’s photos?</li> <li>What are the ways that facial recognition can be used for good and for bad?</li> <li>How are cultural and social values embedded in such technologies?</li> </ul>Roman Shkunov

Event date/time: 6-7pm, 5th October 2021