Deus ex machina? Rezension zu "Todesalgorithmus - Das Dilemma der künstlichen Intelligenz" von Roberto Simanowski

Roberto Simanowski: Todesalgorithmus - Das Dilemma der künstlichen Intelligenz. Wien: Passagen Verlag 2020. 978370920417

Advancing search engine studies: The evolution of Google critique and intervention

In this piece, which frames the special issue, “The State of Google Critique and Intervention,” we provide an overview of research focusing on Google as an object of critical study, fleshing out the European interventions that actively attempt to address its dominance. The article begins by mapping out key areas of articulating a Google critique, from the initial focus on ranking and profiling to the subsequent scrutiny of user exploitation and competitive imbalance. As such, it situates the contributions to this special issue concerning search engine bias and discrimination, the ethics of Google Autocomplete, Google's content moderation, the commodification of engine audiences and the political economy of technical systems in a broader history of Google criticism. It then proceeds to contextualize the European developments that put forward alternatives and draws attention to legislative efforts to curb the influence of big tech. We conclude by identifying a few avenues for continued critical study, such as Google's infrastructural bundling of generative artificial intelligence with existing products, to emphasize the importance of intervention in the future

Mediated knowledge

Diese Dissertation verortet sich an der Schnittstelle von Wissenschaftsforschung, Medizinsoziologie und Internetforschung. Ausgehend von Diskursen rund um den "informierten Patienten" im Kontext breiterer techno-wissenschaftlicher Entwicklungen beschäftigt sich diese Arbeit mit dem Internet als Quelle für Gesundheitsinformationen. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, eine kritische Perspektive auf diese Thematik zu werfen und damit euphorische Visionen vom das Netz als Werkzeug zum „Patienten Empowerment“ zu hinterfragen. Dazu wird auf die Kommunikation von medizinischem Wissen über das Internet und die Rolle der Technologie in dieser Kommunikation fokussiert. Mit Hilfe des analytischen Zugangs der Actor-Network Theory und einem Mix an Methoden konzeptualisiert und analysiert die Arbeit Praxen des Anbietens und Nutzens von medizinischem Wissen über das Netz als soziotechnische Praxen. Konkret wurde untersucht, wie unterschiedliche Typen von AnbieterInnen medizinische Webseiten strukturieren, am Netz positionieren und für NutzerInnen vertrauenswürdig gestalten, und wie unterschiedliche NutzerInnen nach medizinischen Informationen suchen, Webseiten auswählen und nutzen, und wie sie die Qualität und Glaubwürdigkeit von online Gesundheitsinformationen einschätzen. Diese Analyse zeigt, dass sowohl Praxen des Anbietens, als auch Praxen des Nutzens von medizinischem Wissen über das Netz höchste individuelle Informationspraxen darstellen. Darüber hinaus zeigt die Analyse, dass die Technologie – und insbesondere Suchmaschinen – die Kommunikation zwischen AnbieterInnen und NutzerInnen formt und prägt. Sowohl AnbieterInnen, als auch NutzerInnen orientieren sich nicht allein an ihrem jeweiligen Gegenüber, sondern auch an technischen Entitäten, insbesondere der Suchmaschine Google. Dabei werden Bewertungskriterien von medizinischem Wissen und Kategorien wie Vertrauen entlang der Technologie neu verhandelt, und epistemologische Praxen verändern sich. Dies führt mich zu der Schlussfolgerung, dass die Mediatisierung oder „Informationalisierung“ von medizinischem Wissen durch das Internet neue Wissenspraxen hervor bringt, die neue Fähigkeiten erfordern. Über das Handling der Technologie hinaus, umfasst die Aneignung von medizinischem Wissen über das Netz kognitive Fähigkeiten und komplexe Wissensarbeit. Dies relativiert Visionen des Netzes als „empowerment tool“ und zeigt, dass sich PatientInnen mit Hilfe der Technologie selbst „empowern“ müssen, anstatt durch die Technologie „empowert“ zu werden. Dieses Ergebnis lädt insbesondere ÄrztInnen dazu ein, auf PatientInnen und deren individuelle Wissenspraxen einzugehen, um ein neues Vertrauensverhältnis zu ihren „Informierten PatientInnen“ herstellen zu können.This thesis is located at the intersection of Science Studies, Sociology of Medicine, and Internet Research. Starting from discourses around the „informed patient“ in the context of broader techno-scientific developments this thesis investigates the internet as a source of health information. The goal of this PhD is to shed a critical perspective on the issue to challenge euphoric visions around the web as a „tool for patient empowerment“. To do so the focus of attention is shifted towards the communication of medical knowledge via the web and the role technology plays in this communication. Using the analytical framework Actor-Network Theory and a mix of methods this thesis conceptualizes and analyzes practices of providing and acquiring medical knowledge via the web as sociotechnical practices. Concretely, it explored how different types of website providers configure and position medical websites on the web, and try to evoke trust and credibility on the user side, and how different users search for, select and employ medical websites and how they evaluate the quality and credibility of medical web information. This analysis shows that practices of providing and acquiring medical knowledge via the web are highly individual information practices. Furthermore, this analysis reveals that technology – and search engines in particular – contribute to and shape the communication between website providers and users. Both website providers and users do not only direct their actions towards their respective counterparts, but also towards technical entities, especially the search engine Google. In these practices categories such as trust and credibility are newly negotiated along the technology and epistemic practices transform. This allows for the conclusion that the mediation or „informationalization“ of medical knowledge through the web involves new knowledge practices that require new skills. Besides the handling of the technology, the acquisition of medical knowledge from the web involves cognitive abilities and complex knowledge work. This challenges visions of the web as an „empowerment tool“ and suggests, that patients have to empower themselves with the help of technology, rather than getting empowered through the technology. This result invites particularly medical professionals to engage with patients and their individual knowledge practices to establish a new trust relation to their „informed patients“

Azimuthal anisotropy of charged jet production in root s(NN)=2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions

We present measurements of the azimuthal dependence of charged jet production in central and semi-central root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions with respect to the second harmonic event plane, quantified as nu(ch)(2) (jet). Jet finding is performed employing the anti-k(T) algorithm with a resolution parameter R = 0.2 using charged tracks from the ALICE tracking system. The contribution of the azimuthal anisotropy of the underlying event is taken into account event-by-event. The remaining (statistical) region-to-region fluctuations are removed on an ensemble basis by unfolding the jet spectra for different event plane orientations independently. Significant non-zero nu(ch)(2) (jet) is observed in semi-central collisions (30-50% centrality) for 20 <p(T)(ch) (jet) <90 GeV/c. The azimuthal dependence of the charged jet production is similar to the dependence observed for jets comprising both charged and neutral fragments, and compatible with measurements of the nu(2) of single charged particles at high p(T). Good agreement between the data and predictions from JEWEL, an event generator simulating parton shower evolution in the presence of a dense QCD medium, is found in semi-central collisions. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Production of He-4 and (4) in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV at the LHC

Results on the production of He-4 and (4) nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar <1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0-10% central events are found to be dN/dy4(He) = (0.8 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) x 10(-6) and dN/dy4 = (1.1 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.2 (syst)) x 10(-6), respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (T-chem = 156 MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of (4)/He-4 is 1.4 +/- 0.8 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Forward-central two-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

Two-particle angular correlations between trigger particles in the forward pseudorapidity range (2.5 2GeV/c. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B. V.Peer reviewe

Event-shape engineering for inclusive spectra and elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV

Peer reviewe

Pseudorapidity and transverse-momentum distributions of charged particles in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The pseudorapidity (eta) and transverse-momentum (p(T)) distributions of charged particles produced in proton-proton collisions are measured at the centre-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV. The pseudorapidity distribution in vertical bar eta vertical bar <1.8 is reported for inelastic events and for events with at least one charged particle in vertical bar eta vertical bar <1. The pseudorapidity density of charged particles produced in the pseudorapidity region vertical bar eta vertical bar <0.5 is 5.31 +/- 0.18 and 6.46 +/- 0.19 for the two event classes, respectively. The transverse-momentum distribution of charged particles is measured in the range 0.15 <p(T) <20 GeV/c and vertical bar eta vertical bar <0.8 for events with at least one charged particle in vertical bar eta vertical bar <1. The evolution of the transverse momentum spectra of charged particles is also investigated as a function of event multiplicity. The results are compared with calculations from PYTHIA and EPOS Monte Carlo generators. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe