diff --git a/content/Section 2 - Harm in Computational Infrastructures/2-introduction-seda.md b/content/Section 2 - Harm in Computational Infrastructures/2-introduction-seda.md index 063e641..a9ef82c 100644 --- a/content/Section 2 - Harm in Computational Infrastructures/2-introduction-seda.md +++ b/content/Section 2 - Harm in Computational Infrastructures/2-introduction-seda.md @@ -5,11 +5,9 @@ Summary: Seda Gürses, computational infrastructures & *POTs (Protective Optimiz Seda Gürses is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Multi-Actor Systems at TU Delft at the Faculty of Technology Policy and Management, and an affiliate at the COSIC Group at the Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), KU Leuven. Beyond her academic work, she also collaborated with artistic initiatives including Constant vzw, Bootlab, De-center, ESC in Brussels, Graz and Berlin. -Gürses's work provides us with handles to study computational infrastructures. Specifically in the paper she co-wrote on *POTs (Protective Optimization Technologies)*[^pots], she proposes forms of critical *optimization* [what is critical optimisation?]. Here, she is questioning the notion of "fair" technologies, the limits of such practices and who is involved in reviewing their impact. An important factor in this paper is the proposal to approach computational infrastructures as systems, thus shifting focus from the algorithm itself to the economical, political and social context in which the algorithm operates. - -By questioning how *protective* technologies [what are protective technologies, how does she define them?] could *optimize* their mode of operation in a truly fair way, it provides means for affected parties to address negative impacts of digital systems. The work departs from a thorough consideration of multiple forms of *harm* framed as *externalities* [what are externalities? maybe they need a separate sentence if we want to unpack this term] caused by computational infrastructures, such as privacy, discrimination, low wages, surveillance and exploration risks [what is exploration risks?]. How a *POT* could possible engage with these externalities is furthermore illustrated through a range of activist and artistic deployed examples of repurposed optimization technologies that correct [does she use the term correct?], shift of expose these harms. - +Gürses' work provides us with handles to study computational infrastructures. Specifically the paper she co-wrote on *POTs (Protective Optimization Technologies)*[^pots], which proposes forms of critical *optimization* practices. Such practices *"aim at addressing risks and harms that cannot be captured from the fairness perspective and cannot be addressed without a cooperative service provider"*. The paper questions current "fairness" approaches, by inquiring their limitations and creating space for alternative ways to review them. An important factor in this paper is the proposal to approach computational infrastructures as something that is far more than a technological ecosystem alone, thus shifting focus from the system itself to the economical, political and social context in which the system operates. +By questioning how technologies could *optimize* their mode of operation in a truly fair way, *POTs* provide means for affected parties to address negative impacts of digital systems. The work departs from a thorough consideration of multiple forms of *harm* framed as *externalities* caused by computational infrastructures. Examples of such externalities include privacy, discrimination, low wages and surveillance. How a *POT* could possible engage with these externalities is furthermore illustrated through a range of activist, artistic and deployed examples of repurposed optimization technologies that correct, shift or expose these harms. *Externalities* is one of the concepts and phrases in the paper that are borrowed from software and requirements engineering, and from economics and social sciences. @@ -29,6 +27,8 @@ By questioning how *protective* technologies [what are protective technologies, +
+ # Footnotes [^pots]: Bogdan Lulynych, Rebekah Overdorf, Carmela Troncoso, Seda Gürses "POTs: Protective Optimization Technologies" (2020). diff --git a/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/1-introduction.md b/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/1-introduction.md index 8255022..37412eb 100644 --- a/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/1-introduction.md +++ b/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/1-introduction.md @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ Title: Introduction: Bot Logic Slug: 01-s4-introduction Date: 2020-11-01 12:00 -Summary: Bots as computational infrapunctures +Summary: Bots as computational infrapunctures. *Infrapuncture* is a helpful term at a time when there is a lot of discussion around the political roles of automated agents in digital infrastructures. diff --git a/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/2-bot-logic.md b/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/2-bot-logic-vs-platform-logic.md similarity index 86% rename from content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/2-bot-logic.md rename to content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/2-bot-logic-vs-platform-logic.md index 795d63f..396aa7f 100644 --- a/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/2-bot-logic.md +++ b/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/2-bot-logic-vs-platform-logic.md @@ -1,15 +1,17 @@ Title: Bot Logic vs. Platform Logic Slug: 02-s4-bot-logic -Date: 2020-11-01 12:01 -Summary: What kind of logics do bots use to operate? +Date: 2020-11-01 12:02 +Summary: *Bot logic* disperses, fragments, develops intimate knowledge & encourages new habit formation. -What kind of logics do bots use to operate? + -*Bot logic* refers to the situational effect of bots upon a socio-technical ecology and their potential to infiltrate and co-exist with server-side conditions. The term *bot logic* is phrased as a response to *platform logic*, which Jonas Andersson Schwarz describes as + + +The term *bot logic* is phrased as a response to *platform logic*, which Jonas Andersson Schwarz describes as > digital platforms enacting a twofold logic of micro-level technocentric control and macro-level geopolitical domination, while at the same time having a range of generative outcomes, arising between these two levels[^platformlogic]. -What are the differences between *bot logic* and *platform logic*? +To unpack the term *bot logic* further, we will look at four differences between *bot logic* and *platform logic*. ---------- diff --git a/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/3-examples.md b/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/3-examples.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f685da7 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/3-examples.md @@ -0,0 +1,17 @@ +Title: Some Examples of Bots +Slug: 03-s3-examples +Date: 2020-11-01 12:03 +Summary: What are some examples of bots? + +We will give a few examples of bots. They examplify how *bot logics* are put into practice. + +------------ + +**Parliament edits** + +... + +**OCR bots** + +... + diff --git a/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/3-bot-behaviour.md b/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/4-bot-behaviour.md similarity index 50% rename from content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/3-bot-behaviour.md rename to content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/4-bot-behaviour.md index ba2e2d4..fe40036 100644 --- a/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/3-bot-behaviour.md +++ b/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/4-bot-behaviour.md @@ -1,9 +1,11 @@ Title: Bot behaviour -Slug: 03-s4-bot-behaviour -Date: 2020-11-01 12:02 -Summary: +Slug: 04-s4-bot-behaviour +Date: 2020-11-01 12:04 +Summary: As programmable objects bots have particular action modes. -As programmable objects, bots have particular action modes. Below some examples (although this is a non-exhaustive list). +As programmable objects bots have particular *action modes*. + +Below some examples (although this is a non-exhaustive list). - *repetition*: bots can be run repeatedly - *condition*: bots are often written in response to a particular condition @@ -11,10 +13,10 @@ As programmable objects, bots have particular action modes. Below some examples - *memory*: bots can rely on a database - *tempo*: bots can operate at a specific time frame as described by the programmer -Of course, these action modes can also be *executed* by humans. +Of course, these action modes can also be executed by humans. It is by no means surprising that many Twitter users are mistaken for bots, or that the term itself has attained a derogatory meaning. However, an interesting phenomenon can be observed on platforms such as Twitter, where human users have adopted a type of bot behaviour to create networks of dissent and to push activist counter-narratives. -Such a moment happened recently on Dutch Twitter. In response to the Black Lives Matter protests, extreme right wing politician Geert Wilders posted an image on Twitter on June 5th 2020 using the hashtag #ZwartePietMatters.[^zwartepiet] Following this post, a wave of ... from the k-pop community ... + -[^zwartepiet]: Zwarte Piet is a ... + diff --git a/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/4-examples.md b/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/4-examples.md deleted file mode 100644 index 169f452..0000000 --- a/content/Section 4 - Bot Logic/4-examples.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9 +0,0 @@ -Title: Some Examples of Bots -Slug: 02-s3-examples -Date: 2020-11-01 12:04 -Summary: What are some examples of bots? - -In this section, we will give a few examples of bots. - -Parliament edits -OCR bots diff --git a/content/images/users-admin-software-hosting-domain.jpg b/content/images/users-admin-software-hosting-domain.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cd26e48 Binary files /dev/null and b/content/images/users-admin-software-hosting-domain.jpg differ