Thinking about new technology When powerful oligopolistic corporations force a technology upon us, telling us that there is no alternative, shoe-horning it into search engines, answering services, operating systems, etc…, it is sensible to take a step back and think about it. It is sensible to wonder why these oligopolies are doing this, who willContinue reading “AI and universities: towards a generation of credentialed idiots?”
Tag Archives: writing
Born-again traditional media? Some thoughts on Substack ‘journalism’
As traditional media fizzles out, overtaken by billionnaires such as Murdoch, Bezos and Ellisson unashamedly peddling their ideological and technological agendas as journalistic fact, and as social media cannibalizes what is left, channeling us into echo-chambers, many independent analysts have turned towards platforms such as Substack or Patreon (which allow for paid subscriptions). These contributorsContinue reading “Born-again traditional media? Some thoughts on Substack ‘journalism’”
Belief in stats and algorithms : an illusion of objectivity
Algorithms: or how to make responsibility disappear I am reading a fascinating book (Revolutionary Mathematics, by Justin Joque, Verso, 2022) in which he develops the idea that the current takeover of many everyday processes by algorithms (of which he explains the logic and maths – which I find fascinating!) is a form of objectification inContinue reading “Belief in stats and algorithms : an illusion of objectivity”
Richard Shearmur 