Suosittelujärjestelmistä on tullut yhä vahvempia yhteiskunnallisen vallan välineitä, jotka kuitenkin toimivat käyttäjien näkökulmasta usein läpinäkyvyyden, johdonmukaisuuden, ja vastuullisuuden vaatimusten ulkopuolella, selviää tuoreesta väitöstutkimuksesta.

The Feel of Algorithms brings relatable first-person accounts of what it means to experience algorithms emotionally alongside interdisciplinary social science research, to reveal how political and economic processes are felt in the everyday.

This article employs a simple quali-quantitative data visualization to study how a particular digital democracy platform, vTaiwan (an implementation of Pol.is – a tool for generating opinions and consensus about public issues) – formats political participation.

Workshop at the Technical University of Denmark on June 20, 2023 at 10.00-16.00. Organized by Brit Winthereik & Minna Ruckenstein. Submit your paper before May 10th.

Elämme aikaa, jolloin tekoälyn kehittäminen on yhtä kuin tulevaisuus ja toivo.

This article reorients research on agentic engagements with algorithms from the perspective of autonomy. We separate two horizons of algorithmic relations – the instrumental and the intimate – and analyse how they shape different dimensions of autonomous agency. Against the instrumental horizon, algorithmic systems are technical procedures ordering social life at a distance and using...

In 2016, in the wake of the UK’s EU referendum, a series of controversies emerged about the use of personal data and computational tools by political campaigns to target their messages to potential voters. These controversies were sparked by a scandal involving the political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica gaining access to large volumes of social media

Despite accounts of how artificial intelligence (AI) is replacing human labour, constant efforts are needed to keep AI-based automation running. In this chapter, we are particularly interested in data work that supports processes of automation. We explore an unconventional arrangement in which Finnish prisoners annotate text to produce training data for a local AI firm....

Lockdowns and social distancing measures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have made remote participation a necessity for a wide range of social situations. This article examines one example: the abrupt transformation of the Finnish doctoral defence into a remote-access experience facilitated by video-conferencing technologies. The event is regularly centred on a formal public...

In this paper, I approach platform governance through algorithmic folklore, consisting of beliefs and narratives about moderation systems that are passed on informally and can exist in tension with official accounts. More specifically, I analyse user discussions on ‘shadow banning’, a controversial, potentially non-existing form of content moderation on popular social media platforms. I argue...

Valtioneuvoston periaatepäätös pyrkii luomaan suuntaa lähitulevaisuuden teknologiapolitiikalle. Sen tavoitteenasettelua vaivaa kuitenkin konkreettisten, teknologian ja hyvinvoinnin sisältöjä koskevien linjausten puute. Jos emme tee näitä valintoja itse, kansainväliset yritykset tekevät ne puolestamme. Niille Suomi ja suomalaisten hyvinvointi ovat sivuseikka.

While data is increasingly proffered as the resource that unlocks the promises of the digitalized world, for underprivileged individuals and communities, instead of fulfilled promises, datafication means additional marginalization. Examining these forms of marginalization, this article considers how technological advancements come with ability expectations, and highlights the exclusion and discrimination of disadvantaged segments of the...

Algoritmit ovat osa arkipäiväämme. Monet ovat huolissaan niiden vaikutuksesta meihin ja yhteiskuntaamme. Ihmiset tai yhteiskunta eivät kuitenkaan ole vain teknologian passiivisia, helposti manipuloitavissa olevia objekteja, vaan teknologioilla on myös kulttuurinen ja poliittinen elämä.

It is often claimed that the rise of so called ‘big data’and computationally advanced methods may exacerbate tensions between disciplines like data science and anthropology. This paper is an attempt to reflect on these possible tensions and their resolution, empirically. It contributes to a growing body of literature which observes interdisciplinary collabrations around new methods...

Data activism has emerged as a response to asymmetries in how data and the means of knowledge production are distributed. This article examines MyData, a data activism initiative developing principles for a new technical and commercial ecosystem in which individuals control the use of personal data. Analyzing material collected at a formative event shaping MyData...

In recent years, many qualitative sociologists, anthropologists, and social theorists have critiqued the use of algorithms and other automated processes involved in data science on both epistemological and political grounds. Yet, it has proven difficult to bring these important insights into the practice of data science itself. We suggest that part of this problem has...

Data activism, promoting new forms of civic and political engagement, has emerged as a response to problematic aspects of datafication that include tensions between data openness and data ownership, and asymmetries in terms of data usage and distribution. In this article, we discuss MyData, a data activism initiative originating in Finland, which aims to shape...

Personal data spaces, or PDSs, are emerging intermediary services that allow users control over the sharing and use of their data. In this article, the surveillance capitalism model, which describes how businesses employ datafication to create value in the digital economy, is used to contextualize PDSs. Focusing on three PDS services, I analyze the social...