Exactly that:
"While promising, progressive blockchain networks are largely still ‘thought experiments’ while the most powerful, successful ones are ‘extractive’ ."
I am very pleased that our article "Solving the crisis with 'do-it-yourself heroes'? The media coverage on #pioneercommunities, #Covid-19, and technological #solutionism" is now also available in print.
It remains remarkable how members of pioneer communities such as the #Maker movement were staged as #heroes and what fantasies existed about solving the problems with #DIY. In retrospect, this still says a lot about the imagination of #technology and #innovation.
https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2023-0077/html
Protective shields and medical devices produced in Makerspaces as well as the early detection of disease through self-measurement have been widely publicized in the media coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic. This article systematically examines this phenomenon by analyzing the coverage of the Maker and Quantified Self movements in Germany and the UK. Through a discourse analysis of (online) newspapers, the article demonstrates that during the pandemic the coverage of both pioneer communities was markedly positive. Makers were often portrayed as problem solvers, while Quantified Self members were depicted as seismographs of the pandemic. Overall, our analysis reveals an overarching narrative that constructs members of these groups as “do-it-yourself heroes” who respond to the Covid-19 pandemic through their experimental practices, promoting a form of technological solutionism.
I am looking for a quote i read and then lost reference to it and its author. It goes something about "the solution(s) be the problem" but felt more in point and (i recall) with some veils of critique of western approach to things.
i read once in a text about degrowth / decomputing but that could refer from a wider critique of Western science?
Thanks for any suggestion!
"A core promise is that turning the public sector over to AI will deliver huge savings and improved delivery, although one might question the reliability of their research, given that it was based on asking ChatGPT itself how many government jobs it could do. While this sketchy approach has echoes of the Iraq ('dodgy') Dossier, it's reflecting a realpolitik that sees both AI companies and rhetoric about AI as incredibly powerful at the current moment.
This is perhaps the hole that AI fills for the Labour government; having long abandoned any substantive belief in the transformative power of socialism, it is lacking a mobilising belief system. At the same time, it's obvious to all and sundry that the status quo is in deep trouble and that being the party of continuity isn't going to convince anyone.
Ergo, the claim that AI has the power to change the world becomes a good stand-in for a transformative ideology. The bonus for the Labour government is that relying on AI to fix things avoids the need for any structural changes that might upset powerful business and media interests, and rhetoric about global AI leadership has a suitably 'Empire' vibe to appeal to nationalistic sentiments at the grassroots."
https://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Labours-AI-Action-Plan-a-gift-to-the-far-right
#AI #GenerativeAI #UK #Labour #LabourParty #TonyBlair #Ideology #Solutionism #SiliconValley #BigTech
Critical computing expert Dan McQuillan argues that, on top of the clear social and environmental harms associated with the technology, Labour's vapid fixation on AI-led growth in lieu of real change will further enable the far right. Instead, he proposes an alternative strategy of 'decomputing'.
Escucho en #Euskadi/#España sobre las bondades del #SuperComputing #QuantumComputing en relación a los 'problemas sociales' q la #AI puede 'solucionar'
y me pregunto donde hemos dejado la #datafication...
In an era of rapid technological advancement, decisions about the ownership and governance of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence will shape the future of both urban and rural environments in the Global North and South. This article explores how AI can move beyond the noise of algorithms by adopting a technological humanistic approach to enable Social Innovation, focusing on global inequalities and digital justice. Using a fieldwork Action Research methodology, based on the Smart Rural Communities project in Colombia and Mozambique, the study develops a framework for integrating AI with SI. Drawing on insights from the AI4SI International Summer School held in Donostia-San Sebastián in 2024, the article examines the role of decentralized Web3 technologies—such as Blockchain, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, and Data Cooperatives—in enhancing data sovereignty and fostering inclusive and participatory governance. The results demonstrate how decentralization can empower marginalized communities in the Global South by promoting digital justice and addressing the imbalance of power in digital ecosystems. The conclusion emphasizes the potential for AI and decentralized technologies to bridge the digital divide, offering practical recommendations for scaling these innovations to support equitable, community-driven governance and address systemic inequalities across the Global North and South.
stoicmike
Florian Schmidt
Dr Susi Arnott
Alberto Cottica
Andreas Hepp
dvd
Tantek Çelik
Miguel Afonso Caetano
Degrowth or Extinction
ICalzada