Decomputing in a Processed World.

From Dan McQuillan
(https://www.danmcquillan.org/resisting_genai_highered_cjuu.html)

*Resisting GenAI & Big Tech in Higher Education*

I suggest we situate our resistance to AI inside and outside higher education as forms of decomputing.
Decomputing rejects scale because that drives carbon emissions,
but also because our agency is undermined by our immersion in a system of machinic relations, which includes the contemporary university
Decomputing is based on the principles of degrowth, care and conviviality.
We need systems that don't depend on continuous expansion, whether that's AI, universities or entire economies.
We need to start from care to counter algorithmic detachment and eugenicist abstractions.
Conviviality gives us ways to collectively assess tech's effects on relatedness and bio-interaction.
Wherever AI is proposed as ‘the answer’ there's already a structural problem.
One that's best addressed through the direct social relations of those most affected.

#airesistance #decomputing #datasociety #academia

So why does Google keep hassling for my home address? What possible legitimate reason can it have?

This is a new thing, and it can still see my general location even though every location setting is off.

#google #surveillance #enshittification #datawars #datasociety #privacy

Macron is now openly calling out bigtech extractive practices and commidification of the user. Good. We need a lot more of this. We need universities to lead this pressure everywhere.

#digitalsovereignty #eu #Datasociety #academia #academicchatter

https://news-pravda.com/eu/2025/10/04/1744416.html

Macron denounces foreign-controlled social media as threat to European democracy

Foreign platforms accused of eroding sovereigntyPresident Emmanuel Macron has launched a direct attack on US and Chinese social media giants, accusing them of undermining democracy in Europe. Speaking in Germany, Macron said these foreign-controlled...

Pravda EN
News in Instagram robo-hacking: I just got this. I deactivated my IG about 5 yrs ago. I used to love IG when it wasnt owned by FB but now its just a dump for marketing and grifting, just what we all feared after FB bought it. I haven't attempted to log in for years. Be warned. #instagram #hacking #meta #facebook #Datasociety #youaretheproduct

Today in cybercrime. The interesting thing here is the mention of introducing govt funded furlough schemes for SMEs affected by bigco's who need to shut down automated supply chain systems due to cyber attacks.

#cybersecurity #hacking #security #Datasociety

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czdjn0lv64ro

Jaguar Land Rover suppliers 'face bankruptcy' due to hack crisis

The government has been urged to "act fast" to protect hundreds of jobs following the cyber attack.

BBC News

I'm astonished to read about the Meta child chatbots that engage in "sensual" intimate conversations. How can Meta even make these bots let alone populate anyone's socmed feed with them? That's even before you consider the underage aspect. Just an astonishing level of capitalist malign practice towards users. Why do national governments just accept this?

#meta #socialmedia #Datasociety #digitalsovereignty #academia #academicchatter #ai #chatbots

Reactions to this morning's flurry of fairly pithy posts from Ben Williamson. Ed-tech is a mess, uncritical adoption dating back a long time led to the current situation. #academia #academicbanter #education #ai #genai #edtech #datasociety The righteous ire of Ben Williamson | penworks.net

The righteous ire of Ben Willi...
The righteous ire of Ben Williamson

Every academic in every discipline should be following Ben Williamson as part of CPD awareness for digital learning, I've followed his work since when...

Reactions to this morning's flurry of fairly pithy posts from Ben Williamson. Anger is an energy. Ed-tech is a mess, uncritical adoption dating back a long time led to the current situation.

#academia #academicchatter #education #ai #genai #Datasociety

The righteous ire of Ben Williamson | penworks.net

https://penworks.net/blog/the-righteous-ire-of-ben-williamson

The righteous ire of Ben Williamson

Every academic in every discipline should be following Ben Williamson as part of CPD awareness for digital learning, I've followed his work since when...

Surveillance society: #Zoom just updated its T&Cs to listen in and record all your conversations to use in its AI bot training. If you opt out you lose all kinds of functionality. But Id guess if youre an employee and your employer has opted in, then you get no choice. #datasociety
Bluesky

Bluesky Social

Let's play a game.

Don't say PowerPoint presentation, say slidedeck
Don't say Word, say text document
Don't say Photoshop, say image editing
Don't say Excel, say spreadsheet
Don't say...

Language is important. When corporate companies own the names of the tasks or the digital items you create, you have become a cog in their branding machine.

#bigtech #DataSociety #academicchatter