Google brings AI tool to arsenal in anti-child sexual exploitation fight – for whose benefit?

An article from The Verge today described a new AI tool released by Google and intended to assist in the (sadly) unending battle to control the circulation of child sexual exploitation (CSE) material (also known as child sexual abuse material and, incorrectly, as "child pornography") online. This tool is intended to work alongside extant technologies… Continue reading Google brings AI tool to arsenal in anti-child sexual exploitation fight – for whose benefit?

Update: ARTE’s Trailer Not Removed, But the Confusion Is the Story

Yesterday, I wrote about the case of what appeared to have been a removal of a trailer for the documentary film The Cleaners. I'll point you to that post so that I don't need to rehash it too much here and I can get right to the update.   Here's the update. This morning (US-time), the… Continue reading Update: ARTE’s Trailer Not Removed, But the Confusion Is the Story

“The Cleaners,” Cleaned – Google’s YouTube Removes Trailer for Content Moderation Documentary, Citing “Shocking Content”

PLEASE SEE THIS UPDATE FOR IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION Today, news from France: it seems the French outlet of the Franco-German television channel ARTÉ (known as ARTE in Germany) has found itself on the wrong side of Google and YouTube's opaque and mysterious content moderation policy for videos. The irony? The video that has been removed is a… Continue reading “The Cleaners,” Cleaned – Google’s YouTube Removes Trailer for Content Moderation Documentary, Citing “Shocking Content”

“It’s not Science Fiction”: Hidden Labor, and Trauma, of USAF Drone Pilots

  On Friday of last week, Democracy Now! devoted its program to interviews with four whistle-blowing ex-Air Force personnel who were charged with piloting drones and unleashing bombs on people under the auspices the U.S.'s policy of "targeted killing." The interviews coincide with the release of a documentary film, Drone, making its North American début this… Continue reading “It’s not Science Fiction”: Hidden Labor, and Trauma, of USAF Drone Pilots

FIMS CLA-SLA 2014 Conference: Humans of New Librarianship

Many, many thanks to those wonderful FIMS students who created and participated in the joint CLA-SLA conference today, Humans of New Librarianship. I greatly enjoyed presenting my talk, "Human Traces: Searching for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Digital System" to this group of engaged future leaders of the field. In this talk, I encouraged… Continue reading FIMS CLA-SLA 2014 Conference: Humans of New Librarianship

Exciting CFP: DIGITAL LABOR: SWEATSHOPS, PICKET LINES, AND BARRICADES, the New School, NYC, NOVEMBER 14-16, 2014

Call for Proposals DIGITAL LABOR: SWEATSHOPS, PICKET LINES, AND BARRICADES To be held at The New School, a university in New York City NOVEMBER 14-16, 2014 #dl14 The third in The New School's Politics of Digital Culture Conference Series Sponsored by The New School and The Institute for Distributed Creativity Digital Labor: The Internet as… Continue reading Exciting CFP: DIGITAL LABOR: SWEATSHOPS, PICKET LINES, AND BARRICADES, the New School, NYC, NOVEMBER 14-16, 2014

Learning to Love: Human-Machine Affect in Spike Jonez’ “Her”

I saw Her about two weeks ago, and it’s been on my mind. Particularly, I’ve been pondering whether Theodore, Amy, and all the users of OS1 are actually in love with themselves. Isn't it the ultimate narcissism? Given that the OS is predicated on machine learning, based on stored data and personal interactions with the… Continue reading Learning to Love: Human-Machine Affect in Spike Jonez’ “Her”