Kean Birch
@keanbirch.bsky.social
Ontario Research Chair in Science Policy
Obsessed with assets & assetization + into science & technology studies, political economy, economic sociology: https://keanbirch.net/
Obsessed with assets & assetization + into science & technology studies, political economy, economic sociology: https://keanbirch.net/
Scam stage of capitalism
16 BILLION dollars. Make no mistake about it the market for lies is huge. www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show
Meta projected 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, and it internally estimates that its platforms show users 15 billion scam ads a day, company documents show.
www.reuters.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Scam stage of capitalism
Upcoming event: I'll be giving a talk at the @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social in Berlin on 11 Dec 2025 @ 5.30pm - come along!
Title: "Do artefacts have political economy?"
www.weizenbaum-institut.de/veranstaltun...
Title: "Do artefacts have political economy?"
www.weizenbaum-institut.de/veranstaltun...
November 6, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Upcoming event: I'll be giving a talk at the @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social in Berlin on 11 Dec 2025 @ 5.30pm - come along!
Title: "Do artefacts have political economy?"
www.weizenbaum-institut.de/veranstaltun...
Title: "Do artefacts have political economy?"
www.weizenbaum-institut.de/veranstaltun...
We've got a logo for the Society for the Social Study of Science @4sweb.bsky.social Conference to be held in Toronto in October 2026! Theme of "TechnoPower & Technoscientific Futures"
November 3, 2025 at 2:45 PM
We've got a logo for the Society for the Social Study of Science @4sweb.bsky.social Conference to be held in Toronto in October 2026! Theme of "TechnoPower & Technoscientific Futures"
Reposted by Kean Birch
lol what rules Fil!?!?? We are already in the metaverse, where the real and simulated are the same.
Venture capitalists Andreessen and Horowitz invest in startup that sells thousands of AI bot influencers to manipulate social media as a service, clearly violating major platform policies
www.404media.co/a16z-backed-...
www.404media.co/a16z-backed-...
a16z-Backed Startup Sells Thousands of ‘Synthetic Influencers’ to Manipulate Social Media as a Service
Andreessen Horowitz is funding a company that clearly violates the inauthentic behavior policies of every major social media platform.
www.404media.co
November 3, 2025 at 2:39 AM
lol what rules Fil!?!?? We are already in the metaverse, where the real and simulated are the same.
Reposted by Kean Birch
We now have multiple visualizations of this phenomenon from various news organizations. Which one is the best?
October 31, 2025 at 11:01 AM
We now have multiple visualizations of this phenomenon from various news organizations. Which one is the best?
Tech folk have coopted democratization as a way to avoid paying taxes for actual things we might need and enjoy
We keep seeing startups who want to replace something valuable (therapy, counseling, tutoring, artistic expression) with some tech bullshit under the banner of democratization. But why do we need to invest so much in bad tech that doesn't work instead of just giving people access to what they need?
October 28, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Tech folk have coopted democratization as a way to avoid paying taxes for actual things we might need and enjoy
I had a new opinion piece out in @hilltimes.com last week: "Move fast and break things the wrong approach to AI policy" (for Canada) #genAI #generativeartificialintelligence #AI #scipol #sciencepolicy #productivity
www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...
www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...
Move fast and break things the wrong approach to AI policy
Very few firms or organizations are actually experiencing any productivity benefits from generative artificial intelligence. The political economy of genAI doesn't make sense, nor does rushing AI poli...
www.hilltimes.com
October 27, 2025 at 2:01 PM
I had a new opinion piece out in @hilltimes.com last week: "Move fast and break things the wrong approach to AI policy" (for Canada) #genAI #generativeartificialintelligence #AI #scipol #sciencepolicy #productivity
www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...
www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...
Reposted by Kean Birch
"A market in which behavioural data about users are rare rather than the default will reset prices for all forms of advertising. To achieve this, users must be protected against coercion into RTB via ‘consent or pay’."
Make consumer surveillance rare again.
www.iccl.ie/digital-data...
Make consumer surveillance rare again.
www.iccl.ie/digital-data...
The True Cost of RTB
Our second "Pay or OK" paper for EU watchdogs: not only does the law say "no" to forced consent; the business case is terrible, too. Publishers and advertisers will lose if users are forced to consent...
www.iccl.ie
October 22, 2025 at 1:19 PM
"A market in which behavioural data about users are rare rather than the default will reset prices for all forms of advertising. To achieve this, users must be protected against coercion into RTB via ‘consent or pay’."
Make consumer surveillance rare again.
www.iccl.ie/digital-data...
Make consumer surveillance rare again.
www.iccl.ie/digital-data...
Reposted by Kean Birch
Announcing Antipode’s 10th Institute for the Geographies of Justice (IGJ), "Organizing and Solidarity in a Polycrisis", Toronto, 1-5 June 2026 antipodeonline.org/institute-fo... -- submit your application by 20 December 2025
October 20, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Announcing Antipode’s 10th Institute for the Geographies of Justice (IGJ), "Organizing and Solidarity in a Polycrisis", Toronto, 1-5 June 2026 antipodeonline.org/institute-fo... -- submit your application by 20 December 2025
Reposted by Kean Birch
Pls share: Applications open for Summer Institute in Economic Geography, Toronto, 5-10 July 2026
Featuring: Lars Coenen, Karen Lai, Devika Narayan and Stefan Ouma
Early career economic geographers (broadly defined) are welcome to apply. Stipends available. www.econgeog.net/Toronto2026
Featuring: Lars Coenen, Karen Lai, Devika Narayan and Stefan Ouma
Early career economic geographers (broadly defined) are welcome to apply. Stipends available. www.econgeog.net/Toronto2026
Toronto 2026 | Summer Institute in Economic Geography
www.econgeog.net
October 16, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Pls share: Applications open for Summer Institute in Economic Geography, Toronto, 5-10 July 2026
Featuring: Lars Coenen, Karen Lai, Devika Narayan and Stefan Ouma
Early career economic geographers (broadly defined) are welcome to apply. Stipends available. www.econgeog.net/Toronto2026
Featuring: Lars Coenen, Karen Lai, Devika Narayan and Stefan Ouma
Early career economic geographers (broadly defined) are welcome to apply. Stipends available. www.econgeog.net/Toronto2026
Reposted by Kean Birch
Want to know more about #syntheticdata #assetization, #blockchain and #cloudinfrastructures in #finance? In this paper for @financeandspace.bsky.social , I talk about those topics, plus how synthetic data might be reworking financial #subjectivities! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
October 17, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Want to know more about #syntheticdata #assetization, #blockchain and #cloudinfrastructures in #finance? In this paper for @financeandspace.bsky.social , I talk about those topics, plus how synthetic data might be reworking financial #subjectivities! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Kean Birch
Call for panels now open until 31 Oct 2025. We invite you to join us for EASST’s Biennial Conference, to be held in Krakow, Poland
easst.net/conference/e...
easst.net/conference/e...
EASST2026 Home
The conference will take place on the main campus of AGH University of Krakow, walking distance from the Krakow’s vibrant city centre.
easst.net
October 16, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Call for panels now open until 31 Oct 2025. We invite you to join us for EASST’s Biennial Conference, to be held in Krakow, Poland
easst.net/conference/e...
easst.net/conference/e...
"Track the asset out of containment" - Jurassic Park Lego
October 14, 2025 at 7:58 PM
"Track the asset out of containment" - Jurassic Park Lego
Reposted by Kean Birch
Canadians: The federal government is seeking public input on how AI should be developed and used in business, research, and the military.
If this scares the shit out of you, please let them know:
If this scares the shit out of you, please let them know:
Help define the next chapter of Canada's AI leadership
Current status: Open from October 1 to October 31, 2025
Canada helped invent modern AI. To stay a leader—and protect our digital sovereignty—we're running a 30-day national sprint to shape a renewed...
ised-isde.canada.ca
October 8, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Canadians: The federal government is seeking public input on how AI should be developed and used in business, research, and the military.
If this scares the shit out of you, please let them know:
If this scares the shit out of you, please let them know:
Reposted by Kean Birch
Oh what’s that? They will depreciate at roughly 3 times the rate previously touted and require constant replacement and 2-3x the revenue to match initial expenditure?
AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought
An investment manager realized he made a crucial mistake — and that his grim prediction about AI investments may not have been cynical enough.
futurism.com
October 11, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Oh what’s that? They will depreciate at roughly 3 times the rate previously touted and require constant replacement and 2-3x the revenue to match initial expenditure?
This looks cool #aag
Along with Will Payne and Jovan Lewis, I'm organizing an AAG session on the economic geography of scams for the 2026 conference in San Francisco. Please share widely! docs.google.com/document/d/1...
AAG 2026 CFP: Putting the ‘Con’ in Economic Geography
AAG 2026 CFP: Schemes, Scams, and Flim-flam: Putting the ‘Con’ in Economic Geography Will B. Payne, Rutgers University Desiree Fields, University of California, Berkeley Jovan Scott Lewis, University ...
docs.google.com
October 7, 2025 at 4:45 PM
This looks cool #aag
Funnily enough, our #Assetization book is in the #AnthropicAI settlement list - go look yourself up too!
cc/ @provokedeconomy.bsky.social
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
cc/ @provokedeconomy.bsky.social
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
October 2, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Funnily enough, our #Assetization book is in the #AnthropicAI settlement list - go look yourself up too!
cc/ @provokedeconomy.bsky.social
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
cc/ @provokedeconomy.bsky.social
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
Reposted by Kean Birch
The Anthropic settlement list is up. Authors, check here to see if your books are included: www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
ANT Homepage | ANT
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
October 2, 2025 at 6:30 AM
The Anthropic settlement list is up. Authors, check here to see if your books are included: www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
The political economy of #generativeAI just doesn't make
Newsletter: This is The Case Against Generative AI, a comprehensive analysis of a financial collapse built on myths I’ll dispel, the markets’ unhealthy obsession with NVIDIA's growth, and the fact that there is not enough money in the world to fund OpenAI.
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
The Case Against Generative AI
Soundtrack: Queens of the Stone Age - First It Giveth
Before we go any further: This is, for the third time this year, the longest newsletter I've ever written, weighing in somewhere around 18,500 wo...
www.wheresyoured.at
September 30, 2025 at 3:21 PM
The political economy of #generativeAI just doesn't make
This looks like an interesting new paper on #assetization in #videogames || www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Digital labor turn: the impact of assetization in digital games
Labor practices in digital games have been conceptualized as playbor, highlighting their exploited yet voluntary nature. As digital play increasingly converges with assetization, it is becoming mor...
www.tandfonline.com
September 29, 2025 at 1:15 PM
This looks like an interesting new paper on #assetization in #videogames || www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Kean Birch
Learn lots from New Labour and also don’t let any of them (with a few exceptions) anywhere near the levers of power remains sound advice.
Inside the Tony Blair Institute
A former PM, Trump's 'CEO of everything' and NHS data - what could go wrong?
open.substack.com
September 29, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Learn lots from New Labour and also don’t let any of them (with a few exceptions) anywhere near the levers of power remains sound advice.
Reposted by Kean Birch
*new article*
We bring the Frankfurt School into the Spotify age — and it was a fun one to write! 😎
'From Adorno to 50 Cent: Financialized platform capitalism, Spotify, and the culture industry in the twenty-first century' in @finandsoc.bsky.social
Check it out here:
doi.org/10.1017/fas....
We bring the Frankfurt School into the Spotify age — and it was a fun one to write! 😎
'From Adorno to 50 Cent: Financialized platform capitalism, Spotify, and the culture industry in the twenty-first century' in @finandsoc.bsky.social
Check it out here:
doi.org/10.1017/fas....
September 22, 2025 at 3:10 PM
*new article*
We bring the Frankfurt School into the Spotify age — and it was a fun one to write! 😎
'From Adorno to 50 Cent: Financialized platform capitalism, Spotify, and the culture industry in the twenty-first century' in @finandsoc.bsky.social
Check it out here:
doi.org/10.1017/fas....
We bring the Frankfurt School into the Spotify age — and it was a fun one to write! 😎
'From Adorno to 50 Cent: Financialized platform capitalism, Spotify, and the culture industry in the twenty-first century' in @finandsoc.bsky.social
Check it out here:
doi.org/10.1017/fas....
Seem to be a lot of #AIbubble stories out right now - another one || www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
AI investors are in for a rude awakening | Roger McNamee
There is a huge gap between investment and revenue from LLMs. Investors wrongly assume everyone will be a winner
www.theguardian.com
September 25, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Seem to be a lot of #AIbubble stories out right now - another one || www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Kean Birch
A longish thread to announce that the Themed Issue "Digital Platform Economies: Value from Data?" is now fully available online
"https://journals.sagepub.com/topic/collections-pns/pns-1-digital_platform_economies_value_from_data/pns
"https://journals.sagepub.com/topic/collections-pns/pns-1-digital_platform_economies_value_from_data/pns
September 22, 2025 at 1:26 PM
A longish thread to announce that the Themed Issue "Digital Platform Economies: Value from Data?" is now fully available online
"https://journals.sagepub.com/topic/collections-pns/pns-1-digital_platform_economies_value_from_data/pns
"https://journals.sagepub.com/topic/collections-pns/pns-1-digital_platform_economies_value_from_data/pns