Apperceptive patterning: Artefaction, extensional beliefs and cognitive scaffolding

In “Psychopower and Ordinary Madness” my ambition, as it relates to Bernard Stiegler’s recent literature, was twofold: 1) critiquing Stiegler’s work on exosomatization and artefactual posthumanism—or, more specifically, nonhumanism—to problematize approaches to media archaeology that rely upon technical exteriorization; 2) challenging how Stiegler engages with Giuseppe Longo and Francis Bailly’s conception of negative entropy. These efforts were directed by a prevalent techno-cultural qualifier: the rise of Synthetic Intelligence (including neural nets, deep learning, predictive processing and Bayesian models of cognition). This paper continues this project but first directs a critical analytic lens at the Derridean practice of the ontologization of grammatization from which Stiegler emerges while also distinguishing how metalanguages operate in relation to object-oriented environmental interaction by way of inferentialism. Stalking continental (Kapp, Simondon, Leroi-Gourhan, etc.) and analytic traditions (e.g., Carnap, Chalmers, Clark, Sutton, Novaes, etc.), we move from artefacts to AI and Predictive Processing so as to link theories related to technicity with philosophy of mind. Simultaneously drawing forth Robert Brandom’s conceptualization of the roles that commitments play in retrospectively reconstructing the social experiences that lead to our endorsement(s) of norms, we compliment this account with Reza Negarestani’s deprivatized account of intelligence while analyzing the equipollent role between language and media (both digital and analog)

Race: the difference that makes a difference

During the last two decades, critical enquiry into the nature of race has begun to enter the philosophical mainstream. The same period has also witnessed the emergence of an increasingly visible discourse about the nature of information within a diverse range of popular and academic settings. What is yet to emerge, however, is engagement at the interface of the two disciplines – critical race theory and the philosophy of information. In this paper, I shall attempt to contribute towards the emergence of such a field of enquiry by using a reflexive hermeneutic (or interpretative) approach to analyze the concept of race from an information-theoretical perspective, while reflexively analyzing the concept of information from a critical race-theoretical perspective. In order to facilitate a more concrete enquiry, the concept of information formulated by cyberneticist Gregory Bateson and the concept of race formulated by philosopher Charles W Mills will be placed at the centre of analysis. Crucially, both concepts can be shown to have a connection to the critical philosophy of Immanuel Kant, thereby justifying their selection as topics of examination on critical reflexive hermeneutic grounds

Smart nudging: How cognitive technologies enable choice architectures for value co-creation

Abstract People make decisions and take actions to improve their viability everyday, and they increasingly turn to artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with their decision making. Such trends suggest the need to determine how AI and other cognitive technologies affect value co-creation. An integrative framework, based on the service-dominant logic and nudge theory, conceptualizes smart nudging as uses of cognitive technologies to affect people's behaviour predictably, without limiting their options or altering their economic incentives. Several choice architectures and nudges affect value co-creation, by (1) widening resource accessibility, (2) extending engagement, or (3) augmenting human actors' agency. Although cognitive technologies are unlikely to engender smart outcomes alone, they enable designs of conditions and contexts that promote smart behaviours, by amplifying capacities for self-understanding, control, and action. This study offers a conceptualization of actors' value co-creation prompted by AI-driven nudged choices, in terms of re-institutionalizing processes that affect agency and practices

The Body Politics of Data

The PhD project The Body Politics of Data is an artistic, practice-based study exploring how feminist methodologies can create new ways to conceptualise digital embodiment within the field of art and technology. As a field of practice highly influenced by scientific and technical methodologies, the discursive and artistic tools for examining data as a social concern are limited. The research draws on performance art from the 60s, cyberfeminist practice, Object Oriented Feminism and intersectional perspectives on data to conceive of new models of practice that can account for the body political operations of extractive big data technologies and Artificial Intelligence. The research is created through a body of individual and collective experimental artistic projects featured in the solo exhibition The Body Politics of Data at London Gallery West (2020). It includes work on maternity data and predictive products in relation to reproductive health in the UK, created in collaboration with Loes Bogers (2016-2017), workshops on “bodily bureaucracies” with Autonomous Tech Fetish (2013-2016) and Accumulative Care, a feminist model of care for labouring in the age of extractive digital technologies. This research offers an embodied feminist methodology for artistic practice to become investigative of how processes of digitalisation have adverse individual and collective effects in order to identify and resist the forms of personal and collective risk emerging with data driven technologies

Mechanical Empathy Seems Too Risky. Will Policymakers Transcend Inertia and Choose for Robot Care? The World Needs It

An ageing population, increasing longevity and below-replacement fertility increase the care burden worldwide. This comes with age-related diseases such as Alzheimer disease and other dementias, cardiovascular disorders, cancer and—hardly noticed—pandemic loneliness. The burden, both emotionally and economically, starts to become astronomical and cannot be carried by those few who need to combine care with work and family. Social solidarity programmes are part of the answer, but they do not relieve the human helper. Yet, many hands are needed where but a few are available. Capacity issues can be solved by the introduction of care robots. Research shows that state-of-the-art technology is such that care robots can become nonthreatening social entities and be accepted and appreciated by the lonesome. Massive employment of such devices is impeded, however, sufficient governmental support of R&D is lacking—financially and regulatorily. This is where policymakers should step in and get over their moral prejudices and those of their voters and stop being afraid of losing political backing. They will regain it in the long run

Accountability and neglect in UK social care innovation

Accountability structures in social care are critical. They facilitate democratic decision-making, responsibility and the equitable distribution of benefits. This study examines how innovation and technology is implicated in such structures. In the UK, innovation and technology researchers have predominantly imagined care as service provision, with accountability structured through paternalistic and technocratic configurations of people, materials and knowledge. Aligning with incumbent policy and interests, these structures neglect significant groups of actors and issues, with implications for ongoing vulnerabilities in the sector. This study empirically identifies diverse possibilities for how innovation could reconfigure accountability structures in inclusive, participative and less neglectful ways

Technology and self-modification: understanding technologies of the self after Foucault

Self-modification is an ancient human practice; however, for the first time in history, technology is enabling us to modify our lives not only at an existential or experiential level, but also at an informational level. This paper discusses Foucault’s concept of “technologies of the self” as well as some of its recent interpretations within contemporary philosophy of technology. It shows how ICTs have opened new dimensions for humans to transform their bodies, minds, and self-conception. It argues that while ‘traditional’ self-modification is being revolutionised and popularised by ICTs, these systems are also exposing us to potent, and unintentional forms of ontological tinkering. Ultimately, this paper shows how Foucault’s concept can serve as a valuable tool for understanding contemporary human-technology relations

Elements of Engineering Excellence

The inspiration for this Contract Report (CR) originated in discussions with the director of Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Engineering who asked that we investigate the question: "How do you achieve excellence in aerospace engineering?" Engineering a space system is a complex activity. Avoiding its inherent potential pitfalls and achieving a successful product is a challenge. This CR presents one approach to answering the question of how to achieve Engineering Excellence. We first investigated the root causes of NASA major failures as a basis for developing a proposed answer to the question of Excellence. The following discussions integrate a triad of Technical Understanding and Execution, Partnership with the Project, and Individual and Organizational Culture. The thesis is that you must focus on the whole process and its underlying culture, not just on the technical aspects. In addition to the engineering process, emphasis is given to the need and characteristics of a Learning Organization as a mechanism for changing the culture