How Art Can Reimagine Algorithmic Governance

What is it about?

In our contribution we ask how artists relate to the use of algorithmic systems for state and corporate governance. Responding to a call by Nick Couldry to offer critiques of socio-technical systems beyond the frames of STS, we turn to the social philosophy of Cornelius Castoriadis to understand how artistic works can enable new ways of doing and speaking in the contemporary digital era. We firstly identify a series of problems connected to the use of automated decision-making such as built-in biases in training sets, information imbalances, and new opportunities for surveillance and control of both citizens and workers. Then we present a series of examples for how artists respond to such challenges grouping their activities in four categories: appropriating, rejecting, inverting, and creating alternatives. We hope our findings can inspire further artists to critically inquire and challenge indreasingly pervasive systems of algorithmic givernance and control.

Featured Image

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Algorithmic systems of automated decision-making become more and more pervasive in todays datafied societies creating severe imbalances in power and access to information. It is therefore important for researchers, artists, and activists to correctly understand these systems and the problems they create to be able to imagine creative responses. In developoing heuristic categories for different forms of artistic responses to algorithmic governance, we hope to help order the field and facilitate further critical explorations.

Perspectives