The Data Fix with Dr. Mél Hogan

Listen to the data center's hum with your feet first... on this episode, Trent Wintermeier and I discuss what it means to absorb sound through the body and "hear" vibrations with and through your limbs and ears. We discuss what this means for folks living near data centers, especially in places imagined as kinds of sacrifice zones. Recorded Oct 9, 2024. Release Nov 11, 2024.Trent Wintermeierhttps://trentwintermeier.cargo.siteAffective Footprintshttps://www.heliotropejournal.net/helio/affective-footprints Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I have a conversation with Remmelt Ellen from AI Safety Camp. We discuss AI safety and his 44-page book Artifical Bodies outlining AI harms from the perspective of someone really grappling with the ethics, hype, and harms of the industry and beyond. Recorded Oct 4, 2024. Released Oct 28, 2024.Artificial Bodies https://workflowy.com/s/artificial-bodies/znDloerXJaEQvKF6#/846236876b45AI Safety Camphttps://www.aisafety.camp/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lisa Yin Han, an Assistant Professor of Media Studies at Pitzer College and author of "Deepwater Alchemy," delves into eco-media and the relationship between technology and deep-sea mining. She discusses the environmental impacts of plumes in mining and critiques how media shapes our perceptions of oceanic spaces. Exploring the intersection of extraction, representation, and marine life, Han advocates for a radical rethinking of human relationships with the sea, urging integrated approaches to protect vulnerable ecosystems.

Joana Chicau is a designer, researcher and coder, with a background in choreography and performance. We had a truly delightful chat about how dance can make you understand data differently. Recorded Sept 13, 2024. Released Sept 23, 2024.Websitehttps://joanachicau.com/about.html Publicationshttps://researchers.arts.ac.uk/2383-joana-chicau/publications Choreographing Youhttps://re-coding.technology/choreographing-you/From Individual Discomfort to Collective Solidarity: Choreographic Exploration of Extractivist Technology https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378139744_From_Individual_Discomfort_to_Collective_Solidarity_Choreographic_Exploration_of_Extractivist_Technology Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Siobhan Angus, an assistant professor at Carleton University and author of *Camera Geologica*, shares her insights on the intersection of photography and the environment. The conversation dives into how mineral resources influence photographic practices and Canadian identity. Angus reveals unexpected connections, like cow-derived gelatin's role in photos. They also discuss photography's capacity to document nature and critique environmental issues while balancing preservation and accessibility of historical images. It's a thought-provoking exploration of art and its ethical implications.

In this episode, I speak with my dear friend and colleague, Leslie R. Shade about the importance of media reform from an intersectional feminist political economic perspective! Recorded Aug 1. Released Aug 26, 2024.Chapter 5: From Media Reform to Data Justice: Situating Women's Rights as Human Rights from The Handbook of Gender, Communication, and Women's Human Rights Margaret Gallagher (Editor), Aimee Vega Montiel (Editor) ISBN: 978-1-119-80068-2 November 2023, Wiley-Blackwell https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Handbook+of+Gender%2C+Communication%2C+and+Women's+Human+Rights-p-9781119800682#tableofcontents-section Read all her work here: https://discover.research.utoronto.ca/2541-leslie-shade/publications Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alina Utrata and I have a conversation about billionaires conquering space for personal pleasure, in the pursuit of energy sources or minerals, or, to push forward a longtermist interplanetary movement. Alina explains how when we think about outer space as "empty", we unwittingly thinking territorially -- an incredibly valuable contribution to critical space scholarship. Recorded May 20. Released June 24, 2024.Engineering Territory: Space and Colonies in Silicon Valleyhttps://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/engineering-territory-space-and-colonies-in-silicon-valley/5D6EA4D306E8F3E0465F4A05C89454D6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I invited Lee Vinsel to discuss with me a post he wrote from a workshop on "Politics of Controlling Powerful Technologies". In this episode we discuss how futures are (imagined to be) predicted through data modelling and crunching numbers, and how various alternatives to these statistical imaginaries also come short of knowing what awaits us. Can we stand to not know? And if we don't know what the future holds, how do we plan politically? Recorded April 19. Released June 10, 2024. How to Be a Better Reactionary: Time and Knowledge in Technology Regulationhttps://sts-news.medium.com/how-to-be-a-better-reactionary-1630b5098fbc Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Lisa Messeri and M. J. Crockett discuss how scientists are in danger of overlooking AI tools’ limitations, and how science is made stronger by questioning its obsession with objectivity. Recorded April 18, 2024. Released May 27, 2024.Artificial intelligence and illusions of understanding in scientific researchLisa Messeri & M. J. Crockett  Nature volume 627, pages49–58 (2024)Cite this articlehttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07146-0 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Researcher Shaolei Ren discusses the impact of water in data centers for generative AI, highlighting the environmental concerns and future water demands of AI projects. The conversation explores the need for transparency in water usage reporting by big tech companies and proposes solutions for a more sustainable future for AI.