Alison Powell
@abpowell.bsky.social
Assoc Prof at LSE | Teaches MSc in Data & Society | Feminist research praxis | AI policy making | Undoing Optimization: https://yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300223804/
Current work on health, care and environment from NHS tech to Rewilding the Night
Current work on health, care and environment from NHS tech to Rewilding the Night
Reposted by Alison Powell
First was an engaging session on the role of data science in understanding and shaping the public interest at the LSE with @abpowell.bsky.social, @chrishwiggins.bsky.social, and Erin Young www.youtube.com/live/tLIV4xg... (2/5)
The power of data: ethics, politics, and public interest | LSE Event
YouTube video by LSE
www.youtube.com
May 9, 2025 at 4:49 AM
First was an engaging session on the role of data science in understanding and shaping the public interest at the LSE with @abpowell.bsky.social, @chrishwiggins.bsky.social, and Erin Young www.youtube.com/live/tLIV4xg... (2/5)
Reposted by Alison Powell
Last week, DSI and the Department of Media and Communications (@lsemedia.bsky.social) hosted a talk on data science's role in public interest – from access to info to democracy.
Speakers included Chris Wiggins, @abpowell.bsky.social and Erin Young.
Watch here▶️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLIV...
Speakers included Chris Wiggins, @abpowell.bsky.social and Erin Young.
Watch here▶️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLIV...
The power of data: ethics, politics, and public interest | LSE Event
YouTube video by LSE
www.youtube.com
May 15, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Last week, DSI and the Department of Media and Communications (@lsemedia.bsky.social) hosted a talk on data science's role in public interest – from access to info to democracy.
Speakers included Chris Wiggins, @abpowell.bsky.social and Erin Young.
Watch here▶️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLIV...
Speakers included Chris Wiggins, @abpowell.bsky.social and Erin Young.
Watch here▶️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLIV...
Reposted by Alison Powell
🤖 The power of #data: #ethics #politics & #publicinterest @lsedatascience.bsky.social
📅 Thurs 8 May 2025 6.30-8pm
@abpowell.bsky.social & experts discuss important questions around the role of data science in understanding & shaping the public interest
Find out more: www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2025/...
📅 Thurs 8 May 2025 6.30-8pm
@abpowell.bsky.social & experts discuss important questions around the role of data science in understanding & shaping the public interest
Find out more: www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2025/...
The power of data: ethics, politics, and public interest
6.30pm Thurs 8 May | Alison Powell, Chris Wiggins, Erin Young | Free public event at LSE
www.lse.ac.uk
March 26, 2025 at 3:34 PM
🤖 The power of #data: #ethics #politics & #publicinterest @lsedatascience.bsky.social
📅 Thurs 8 May 2025 6.30-8pm
@abpowell.bsky.social & experts discuss important questions around the role of data science in understanding & shaping the public interest
Find out more: www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2025/...
📅 Thurs 8 May 2025 6.30-8pm
@abpowell.bsky.social & experts discuss important questions around the role of data science in understanding & shaping the public interest
Find out more: www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2025/...
Reposted by Alison Powell
💬 Minkälaisia rooleja teknologiaan liittyvissä tarinoissa ja narratiiveissa voi havaita? Pitäisikö nykyisille tarinoille ja narratiiveille miettiä vaihtoehtoja?
Tätä pohdittiin 29.1. Scholarly Talkissa
@abpowell.bsky.social sekä diskussanttien Yana Boevan & Santeri Räisäsen kanssa. Lue lisää 👇
Tätä pohdittiin 29.1. Scholarly Talkissa
@abpowell.bsky.social sekä diskussanttien Yana Boevan & Santeri Räisäsen kanssa. Lue lisää 👇
“Systems are broken – and so are their stories” – REPAIR Scholarly Talk with Associate Professor Alison Powell on 29.1. — Repair
On Wednesday January 29th, we had the pleasure of hosting our first REPAIR Scholarly Talk of the year, featuring Associate Professor Alison Powell from the London School of Economics and Political Sci...
www.repair-research.fi
February 5, 2025 at 12:00 PM
💬 Minkälaisia rooleja teknologiaan liittyvissä tarinoissa ja narratiiveissa voi havaita? Pitäisikö nykyisille tarinoille ja narratiiveille miettiä vaihtoehtoja?
Tätä pohdittiin 29.1. Scholarly Talkissa
@abpowell.bsky.social sekä diskussanttien Yana Boevan & Santeri Räisäsen kanssa. Lue lisää 👇
Tätä pohdittiin 29.1. Scholarly Talkissa
@abpowell.bsky.social sekä diskussanttien Yana Boevan & Santeri Räisäsen kanssa. Lue lisää 👇
Where can we find other stories for tech policy? My "Repairing Systems and Stories" at U Helsinki gets beyond critique by playing around with narrative structure - involving live Tarot readings for policy projects. Enjoy! www.helsinki.fi/fi/unitube/v...
February 4, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Where can we find other stories for tech policy? My "Repairing Systems and Stories" at U Helsinki gets beyond critique by playing around with narrative structure - involving live Tarot readings for policy projects. Enjoy! www.helsinki.fi/fi/unitube/v...
I've got the most fun, hilarious, enlightening article with Fenwick McKelvey in this special issue. It's all about the **drama*** of AI policy-making publicera.kb.se/jdsr/article...
January 7, 2025 at 8:52 PM
I've got the most fun, hilarious, enlightening article with Fenwick McKelvey in this special issue. It's all about the **drama*** of AI policy-making publicera.kb.se/jdsr/article...
Are you working on automation of care? The private/public spaces of genomic databases? Epistemic justice? Submit to 4S open panel hosted by @philippseuferling.bsky.social and me - focusing on deceptive narratives and health and care systems. www.xcdsystem.com/4sonline/mem... we are Open Panel 47.
December 18, 2024 at 1:48 PM
Are you working on automation of care? The private/public spaces of genomic databases? Epistemic justice? Submit to 4S open panel hosted by @philippseuferling.bsky.social and me - focusing on deceptive narratives and health and care systems. www.xcdsystem.com/4sonline/mem... we are Open Panel 47.
Reposted by Alison Powell
TOMORROW! London friends, come to this LSE talk / book launch for #Technocolonialism: when technology for good is harmful, chaired by @abpowell.bsky.social @lsemedia.bsky.social For those further afield you can join remotely, details below ⬇️ Book details here: www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...
Technocolonialism: when technology for good is harmful
6.30pm Thurs 5 Dec | Mirca Madianou | Free public event at LSE
www.lse.ac.uk
December 4, 2024 at 12:19 PM
TOMORROW! London friends, come to this LSE talk / book launch for #Technocolonialism: when technology for good is harmful, chaired by @abpowell.bsky.social @lsemedia.bsky.social For those further afield you can join remotely, details below ⬇️ Book details here: www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...
I've written a few pieces about the idea of the 'more-than-human, looking at 'otherness' 'risk' and 'danger', and how more-than-human ecologies don't only repair the artificial fracture between society and nature, they also allow for deep reflection on humanity itself. ugp.rug.nl/potcj/articl...
View of Re-wilding the Night: Understanding How Darkness Is Valued Through the Nighttime Light Ecology of Bonn Botanical Gardens
ugp.rug.nl
November 25, 2024 at 11:39 AM
I've written a few pieces about the idea of the 'more-than-human, looking at 'otherness' 'risk' and 'danger', and how more-than-human ecologies don't only repair the artificial fracture between society and nature, they also allow for deep reflection on humanity itself. ugp.rug.nl/potcj/articl...
I need to make a confession. I don't know how to "do" social media any more. I'm a different person than I used to be. The previous person was into Networking. This person is mostly interested in Doing The Work. I like the memes though, thanks.
November 23, 2024 at 3:58 PM
I need to make a confession. I don't know how to "do" social media any more. I'm a different person than I used to be. The previous person was into Networking. This person is mostly interested in Doing The Work. I like the memes though, thanks.
This line really got me: "even though women academic experts posted as frequently as male experts on Twitter and followed and engaged with similar numbers of people, they, amassed, on average, only half as many followers as their male colleagues. Male experts also got nearly double as many likes"
The latest Pew Research report on news content creators paints a damning picture of our skewed information ecosystem.
I went deep into the 122 page report and broke down the key findings and what they mean www.usermag.co/p/the-majori...
I went deep into the 122 page report and broke down the key findings and what they mean www.usermag.co/p/the-majori...
The majority of news influencers are conservative men, study finds
The latest Pew Research report on news content creators paints a damning picture of our skewed information ecosystem
www.usermag.co
November 18, 2024 at 5:27 PM
This line really got me: "even though women academic experts posted as frequently as male experts on Twitter and followed and engaged with similar numbers of people, they, amassed, on average, only half as many followers as their male colleagues. Male experts also got nearly double as many likes"
I'm so happy to see this. I've been thinking recently about "digital innovation harm reduction" - that is, rebalancing how innovation is thought about, who benefits from it and how it is done. Rachel's done so much of the heavy lifting to start and connect work in this area - hope to join in
Ah yes! Have been working with others to get the field of "community tech" of the ground in the UK as an alt www.promisingtrouble.net/blog/innovat...
What good is innovation if it doesn’t work for everyone? — Promising Trouble
Towards community-driven technologies and inclusive growth. An open invitation to a thinking party.
www.promisingtrouble.net
November 16, 2024 at 3:02 PM
I'm so happy to see this. I've been thinking recently about "digital innovation harm reduction" - that is, rebalancing how innovation is thought about, who benefits from it and how it is done. Rachel's done so much of the heavy lifting to start and connect work in this area - hope to join in
Wonderful! Already shared to my students.
In response to OpenAI’s recent ‘A Student’s Guide to Writing with ChatGPT’, Arthur Perret (maître de conferénces, Jean Moulin Lyon 3) writes a line-by-line rebuttal — A Student’s Guide to Not Writing with ChatGPT www.arthurperret.fr/blog/2024-11...
A Student’s Guide to Not Writing with ChatGPT
Site web d’Arthur Perret, enseignant-chercheur en SIC.
www.arthurperret.fr
November 15, 2024 at 10:46 AM
Wonderful! Already shared to my students.
I have mixed feelings about a focus on AI metaphors. If one knows that an LLM is an elaborate autocorrect, one might read 'intelligent machine' as a metaphor to critique. But much of public press is shaped towards the idea that the robots are smart, and there's nothing we can do about it.
For Science Magazine, I wrote about "The Metaphors of Artificial Intelligence".
The way you conceptualize AI systems affects how you interact with them, do science on them, and create policy and apply laws to them.
Hope you will check it out!
www.science.org/doi/full/10....
The way you conceptualize AI systems affects how you interact with them, do science on them, and create policy and apply laws to them.
Hope you will check it out!
www.science.org/doi/full/10....
The metaphors of artificial intelligence
A few months after ChatGPT was released, the neural network pioneer Terrence Sejnowski wrote about coming to grips with the shock of what large language models (LLMs) could do: “Something is beginning...
www.science.org
November 15, 2024 at 9:13 AM
I have mixed feelings about a focus on AI metaphors. If one knows that an LLM is an elaborate autocorrect, one might read 'intelligent machine' as a metaphor to critique. But much of public press is shaped towards the idea that the robots are smart, and there's nothing we can do about it.
News from Aotearoa, where the treaty governing the country has *two versions* - only one that Māori signatories agreed to. Soon to be published is a PhD by my student Henry Lyons investigating the epistemic, ontological and land-based issues that have resulted, in the here and now
Māori MPs briefly suspended the Aotearoa parliament’s attempts to reinterpret their founding treaty in the most bad ass use of the Haka I’ve ever seen.
November 14, 2024 at 4:38 PM
News from Aotearoa, where the treaty governing the country has *two versions* - only one that Māori signatories agreed to. Soon to be published is a PhD by my student Henry Lyons investigating the epistemic, ontological and land-based issues that have resulted, in the here and now
Reposted by Alison Powell
Thinking about how to avoid US owned compute...? "How Lidl accidentally took on the big guns of cloud computing: A unit of Europe’s largest retailer is offering IT services to companies wary of big providers such as Amazon and Google" www.irishtimes.com/business/202...
How Lidl accidentally took on the big guns of cloud computing
A unit of Europe’s largest retailer is offering IT services to companies wary of big providers such as Amazon and Google
www.irishtimes.com
November 14, 2024 at 10:47 AM
Thinking about how to avoid US owned compute...? "How Lidl accidentally took on the big guns of cloud computing: A unit of Europe’s largest retailer is offering IT services to companies wary of big providers such as Amazon and Google" www.irishtimes.com/business/202...
Reposted by Alison Powell
“One of the many fascinating facts in the report is that businesses based in the town centre earn 20% more profit when there’s a bank and post office on the high street. It’s clear that public realm improvements can provide multi-dimensional benefits.”
www.livingstreets.org.uk/press-media/...
www.livingstreets.org.uk/press-media/...
Pedestrians spend more, new report reveals
Living Streets launches its updated Pedestrian Pound report, showing the correlation between walkable places and thriving business.
www.livingstreets.org.uk
November 14, 2024 at 1:08 PM
“One of the many fascinating facts in the report is that businesses based in the town centre earn 20% more profit when there’s a bank and post office on the high street. It’s clear that public realm improvements can provide multi-dimensional benefits.”
www.livingstreets.org.uk/press-media/...
www.livingstreets.org.uk/press-media/...
Hello to everyone. These days most of my energies are going to teaching that the current arrangements of power/discourse/technology are not inevitable - but I did write this short thing recently on how AI is expensive blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/202...
AI is Expensive
LSE’s Alison Powell explains the real costs of AI, and how these might be mitigated. AI is everywhere; AI is here. The story around AI implies that it is here because it’s making things effic…
blogs.lse.ac.uk
November 13, 2024 at 9:08 AM
Hello to everyone. These days most of my energies are going to teaching that the current arrangements of power/discourse/technology are not inevitable - but I did write this short thing recently on how AI is expensive blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/202...
Reposted by Alison Powell
New - and ever more crucial report - on carceral AI, a growing class of algorithmic and data-driven practices designed to police, incarcerate, surveil, and control people.
Recommendations, report, and beautiful artwork too!
www.carceral-ai.com Spearheaded by @dashapruss.bsky.social
Recommendations, report, and beautiful artwork too!
www.carceral-ai.com Spearheaded by @dashapruss.bsky.social
begin | Carceral AI
www.carceral-ai.com
November 11, 2024 at 9:31 PM
New - and ever more crucial report - on carceral AI, a growing class of algorithmic and data-driven practices designed to police, incarcerate, surveil, and control people.
Recommendations, report, and beautiful artwork too!
www.carceral-ai.com Spearheaded by @dashapruss.bsky.social
Recommendations, report, and beautiful artwork too!
www.carceral-ai.com Spearheaded by @dashapruss.bsky.social
Events this week have had me thinking about my project about Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, which showed that a shift towards more 'objective' data-driven public engagement displaced marginalized people's anger. My recommendations? Listen, and don't fear feelings www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Objectivity vs affect: how competing forms of legitimacy can polarize public debate in data-driven public consultation
How do data and objectivity become politicized? How do processes intended to include citizen voices instead push them into social media that intensify negative expression? This paper examines the p...
www.tandfonline.com
November 8, 2024 at 5:51 PM
Events this week have had me thinking about my project about Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, which showed that a shift towards more 'objective' data-driven public engagement displaced marginalized people's anger. My recommendations? Listen, and don't fear feelings www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Alison Powell
Critical Data Studies researcher here. 100% agree. Do not under any circumstances submit your medical scans to Grok.
Cancer researcher here. 100% agree. Do not under any circumstances submit your medical scans to Grok.
October 29, 2024 at 5:46 PM
Critical Data Studies researcher here. 100% agree. Do not under any circumstances submit your medical scans to Grok.
Reposted by Alison Powell
Don't pace around nervously! Read this new essay by me and Matt Dowse from the Centre for Sociodigital Futures.
What if innovation were rethought as if people, rather than firms, are the things that matter most?
www.promisingtrouble.net/blog/innovat...
@carefultrouble.bsky.social
What if innovation were rethought as if people, rather than firms, are the things that matter most?
www.promisingtrouble.net/blog/innovat...
@carefultrouble.bsky.social
![Rather than accruing benefits only to a small, socially elite group of innovators, a truly modern innovation economy must seek to create more plural, more equitable opportunities that are accessible beyond major research institutions and massive tech corporations, that prioritise regeneration over extraction, and that uplift and empower people and communities in their diversity.
"Small" in this case does not mean a lack of ambition; it denotes a lack of concentration - a tendency towards pluralism, and an embrace of many possible, parallel realities and futures that are imagined within limits.
The resource intensive nature of modern technologies at scale make these steps urgent, and it seems likely that a shift to smaller-scale and more distributed approaches to computing will become an imperative over the coming decade. [4]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:dvvvi2lfda3eq46zikkozitb/bafkreidz7dr4l3rcyapdfywjyqbhraez44seqq7gv7kp6nnzzrwoxuepo4@jpeg)
![4. Intelligences: What interventions are needed to enable technologies to be created and altered to enable a
"repertoire of intelligences" [5] rather than support returns to a small number of Silicon Valley companies and investors?
5. Organising: What methods of organising are needed? What does organising in this new normal look like? How can communities organise for a new innovation economy?](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:dvvvi2lfda3eq46zikkozitb/bafkreihcxxrzn3m3zisjzd4clr3xnx675nitda4xt2wsypy2rmtjijxpjm@jpeg)
November 5, 2024 at 8:02 AM
Don't pace around nervously! Read this new essay by me and Matt Dowse from the Centre for Sociodigital Futures.
What if innovation were rethought as if people, rather than firms, are the things that matter most?
www.promisingtrouble.net/blog/innovat...
@carefultrouble.bsky.social
What if innovation were rethought as if people, rather than firms, are the things that matter most?
www.promisingtrouble.net/blog/innovat...
@carefultrouble.bsky.social
So we are here, now. Hello. I've been thinking about 'digital innovation," and how narratives of efficiency, objectivity and accuracy obscure potential damage to knowledge and care. Been writing about Babylon Health, teaching students about AI governance. Gardening and looking at mushrooms. You?
November 8, 2024 at 9:51 AM
So we are here, now. Hello. I've been thinking about 'digital innovation," and how narratives of efficiency, objectivity and accuracy obscure potential damage to knowledge and care. Been writing about Babylon Health, teaching students about AI governance. Gardening and looking at mushrooms. You?