How can we understand the operations of technology and power in our era? Our technological systems are increasingly complex, interconnected, automated and opaque. The industrial transformations in AI are further concentrating power, while accelerating polarization and alienation. But these forces are part of a longer set of trajectories. If we are to address the urgent challenges of the contemporary time – including climate catastrophe, colonial wars, and wealth inequality – we need to contend with the interwoven nature of their histories.
In this lecture, Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler will address how they explored these issues in Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power Since 1500, their award-winning, large-scale research visualization that tracks imperial systems over five centuries. By merging research and design, science and art, Joler and Crawford provoke us to go beyond the current spectacles of AI to ask how we got here—and consider where we might be going.
Bios
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Photo: Cath MuscatKate Crawford
AU
Kate Crawford ist eine international führende Wissenschaftlerin auf dem Gebiet der künstlichen Intelligenz. Sie ist Professorin an der USC, leitende Wissenschaftlerin am MSR-NY und hatte den ersten Lehrstuhl für AI and Justice an der Ecole Normale Supérieure inne. Ihr preisgekröntes Buch Atlas of AI wurde in zwölf Sprachen übersetzt. Sie leitet das Knowing Machines Project, das sich mit den Grundlagen der KI befasst. Ihre Kunstwerke wurden von Museen wie dem MoMA und dem V&A erworben und mit dem Aryton-Preis ausgezeichnet.
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Vladan Joler
RS
Prof. Dr. Vladan Joler ist Wissenschaftler, Forscher und Künstler, dessen Arbeit Datenforschung, kritische Kartographie, investigativen Journalismus und Datenvisualisierung verbindet. Er ist Mitbegründer der SHARE Foundation und Professor an der Fakultät für Neue Medien der Universität Novi Sad. Vladan Jolers Arbeiten sind in den ständigen Sammlungen des MoMA, des V&A Museum und des Design Museum in London sowie in der Dauerausstellung des Ars Electronica Center vertreten.
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Photo: Aena SchmickFrederike Kaltheuner
DE
Frederike Kaltheuner is an independent expert on emerging technology, policy, and rights. She also serves as the Europe and global governance Lead at the AI Now Institute. With a decade of experience, she has held leadership roles including Technology and Rights Director at Human Rights Watch and Special Adviser to the European Commission. Frederike regularly provides expert evidence to parliaments and comments on technology in international media. She holds an MSc from Oxford and edited Fake AI, a book on AI pseudoscience and hype.
Credits
This project has been developed and is presented in the context of the STARTS in the City project. STARTS in the City has received funding from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement No. LC-01984766.
