Die Produktion des Unerwarteten : Materialität und Körperpolitik in der neueren Künstlichen Intelligenz

Materialität und Körperpolitik in der Künstlichen Intelligen

Embodied Agents of Life- and Cyberscience : Bericht über ein Symposium der TU Braunschweig und der Universität Bremen

Das internationale Symposium “Embodied Agents of Life- and Cyberscience. Turbulente Körper und soziale Maschinen“ (5. - 7.7.2002) brachte knapp dreißig ForscherInnen aus den Geistes- und Naturwissenschaften zusammen, um Fragen des 'technological embodiment' zu diskutieren. Die konsequent transdisziplinäre Herangehensweise und die sozio-materiale Auseinandersetzung mit aktuellen Technologien ermöglichte ein tiefergehendes Verständnis gegenwärtiger Körperformierungen, Maschinenkonzepte und Technofakte jenseits eindimensionaler Technikeuphorie oder -pessimismus. Den Auftakt der Arbeitstagung bildeten zwei Vorträge international renommierter Wissenschaftsforscherinnen. N. Katherine Hayles (USA) untersuchte Umschreibungen des 'Humanen' in den neuesten Entwicklungen der Robotik-Forschung, während Lucy Suchman (GB) in ‚Embodied Agencies at the Interface’ zeigte, dass die Konzepte von Software-Agenten, Wearable Computing und Intelligenten Häusern klassenhierarchische und geschlechtsspezifische Phantasien reproduzieren. Anschließend wurde in den Arbeitsgruppen „Sozialität mit Menschen und Maschinen”, “Im/Materialität – oder der Mythos vom Verschwinden des Körpers“ und „Emergenz – Formalisierung des Unverfügbaren?“ auf der Grundlage von Positionspapieren diskutiert. Dabei ließen sich zentrale Erkenntnisse zur technologischen Verkörperung und neue Forschungsfragen entwickeln. Insgesamt wurde deutlich, dass eine kritische Gesellschaftsanalyse und Genderforschung wie auch die Technologieentwicklung unabdingbar der Wissenschafts- und Technikforschung bedarf. Gesellschaftstheorie, Körpertheorie und die Techniktheorie bilden ein ‚seamless web’, das nur an der Schnittstelle von Natur- und Geisteswissenschaften adäquat analysiert werden kann. Das Symposium mit seiner innovativen Gestaltung hat erste Schritte in dieser Richtung unternommen und damit den notwendigen Anschluss an die internationale Debatte geleistet.The international symposium “Embodied Agents of Life- and Cyberscience. Turbulente Bodies and Social Machines“ (5. - 7.7.2002) brought together almost 30 researchers from the natural sciences and humanities in order to discuss topics of technological embodiment in the age of technoscience. The consistent transdisciplinary approach and the socio-material engagement in current technologies gave the participants a deeper understanding of present concepts and formations of bodies, machines and artefacts beyond one-dimensional technological enthusiasm and affirmation. The conference started with two lectures from internationally renowned researchers in science and technology studies. In “Computing the Human” N. Katherine Hayles (USA) focussed on reinterpretations of the ‘human’ which occurred in the latest developments in robotic research, while Lucy Suchman (GB) elaborated on the fantasies of class and gender within the concepts of software agents, Wearable Computing and Intelligent Environments in her talk “Embodied Agents at the Interface”. Later, three open discussion groups concentrated on the topics “Sociality between humans and machines”, “Im/Materiality or the myth of dissolution” and “Emergence – formalizing the unavailable”, prepared by position papers of all participants. These debates gave profound insights into the field of technological embodiment and raised new research questions. In summary, the symposium emphasized that critical analyses of society, gender studies and technology design need science and technology studies. Theories of society, the body and technology form a seamless web which can only be explored on the interface of science and humanities. The symposium with its innovative form took first steps in this direction and linked the research in the field of technological embodiment and its gendering to international debates

Gender, Technik und Politik 4.0 - Über digitalen Kapitalismus, disruptive Technologien und neue Regime der Unsicherheit (Vorwort)

Lengersdorf D, Weber J. Vorwort: Gender, Technik und Politik 4.0 – Über digitalen Kapitalismus,disruptive Technologien und neue Regime der Unsicherheit. GENDER – Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft. 2019;11(3):7-10

Tracking and Targeting:Sociotechnologies of (In)security

This introduction to the special issue of the same title sets out the context for a critical examination of contemporary developments in sociotechnical systems deployed in the name of security. Our focus is on technologies of tracking, with their claims to enable the identification of those who comprise legitimate targets for the use of violent force. Taking these claims as deeply problematic, we join a growing body of scholarship on the technopolitical logics that underpin an increasingly violent landscape of institutions, infrastructures, and actions, promising protection to some but arguably contributing to our collective insecurity. We examine the asymmetric distributions of sociotechnologies of (in)security; their deadly and injurious effects; and the legal, ethical, and moral questions that haunt their operations

Elimination of Microplastics by Downstream Sand Filters in Wastewater Treatment

The elimination of microplastic particles (MPP) and microplastic fibers (MPF) was investigated in the final treatment stage (sand filtration) in two municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and the final treatment stage (sand filtration) at a process WWTP of a manufacturer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). At each sampling site, three samples on three different days were taken (before/after sand filtration). The samples were filtered through a 10 µm stainless steel cartridge filter utilizing a stainless steel centrifugal pump. Microplastics (MP) were separated from the wastewater matrix by oxidative treatment and density separation and analyzed by Raman microspectroscopy. Due to precautionary measures, procedural blanks were very low with a mean number of 4.3 ± 2.7 MPP and 0.88 ± 0.56 MPF within eight blank samples. The municipal WWTPs were able to eliminate 99.2% ± 0.29% and 99.4% ± 0.15% of MP in the sand filtration stage. The sand filtration of a PVC manufacturer eliminated 99.2%–99.9%

Delayed subsidence of the Dead Sea shore due to hydro-meteorological changes

Many studies show the sensitivity of our environment to manmade changes, especially the anthropogenic impact on atmospheric and hydrological processes. The effect on Solid Earth processes such as subsidence is less straightforward. Subsidence is usually slow and relates to the interplay of complex hydro-mechanical processes, thus making relations to atmospheric changes difficult to observe. In the Dead Sea (DS) region, however, climatic forcing is strong and over-use of fresh water is massive. An observation period of 3 years was thus sufficient to link the high evaporation (97 cm/year) and the subsequent drop of the Dead Sea lake level (− 110 cm/year), with high subsidence rates of the Earth’s surface (− 15 cm/year). Applying innovative Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) techniques, we are able to resolve this subsidence of the “Solid Earth” even on a monthly basis and show that it behaves synchronous to atmospheric and hydrological changes with a time lag of two months. We show that the amplitude and fluctuation period of ground deformation is related to poro-elastic hydro-mechanical soil response to lake level changes. This provides, to our knowledge, a first direct link between shore subsidence, lake-level drop and evaporation