Critical Practice in the Algorithmic Age

How do we do critique in algorithmic age? As planetary computation is redesigning human modes of existence, altering cognition, perception, and circulation of affects, not only is it changing what counts as human; it is also radically changing how knowledge is produced and what counts as knowledge. During the talk we will examine some of the dominant narratives circulating around digital technologies to question the techno-determinist visions they embody – in particular notions such as ‘solutionism’, ‘techno-enchantment’ and ‘platform design’. We will consider ways in which how our human relationship with (and to) machines – in the broader sense of the term - could be rethought as developing meta-stable hybrid ecologies of the human with the nonhumanity of machines, with a focus on how the encounter with artificial intelligence could be re-imagined. We will then use these ideas to illuminate the cognitive and epistemological shift generated by the data-driven logic of computation in the light of theories of algorithmic governance (Rouvroy), and conclude with some pointers for designers wishing to mobilize these ideas in their work.