Louise Amoore
@amoorelouise.bsky.social
Professor of Political Geography & Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life @leverhulmecal.bsky.social
Algorithms, politics, technology, biometrics, AI, ethics
Author Cloud Ethics http://dukeupress.edu/cloud-ethics
Algorithms, politics, technology, biometrics, AI, ethics
Author Cloud Ethics http://dukeupress.edu/cloud-ethics
Pinned
Politics of the prompt: Government in the age of generative AI
This paper addresses the politics of the technique of prompting in machine learning, at a time when bureaucratic and democratic government is undergoing transformation. Drawing on the case of the U...
www.tandfonline.com
Our article on the politics of AI prompts is out now @econsocjournal.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... 1/n
Reposted by Louise Amoore
💥 New publication out on the alignment of AI & authoritarianism 💥
We argue that AI is not simply extending, but actively modulating, key dynamics of authoritarianism, and present a flexible analytical framework to account for these changes.
rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
We argue that AI is not simply extending, but actively modulating, key dynamics of authoritarianism, and present a flexible analytical framework to account for these changes.
rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
November 24, 2025 at 9:39 AM
💥 New publication out on the alignment of AI & authoritarianism 💥
We argue that AI is not simply extending, but actively modulating, key dynamics of authoritarianism, and present a flexible analytical framework to account for these changes.
rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
We argue that AI is not simply extending, but actively modulating, key dynamics of authoritarianism, and present a flexible analytical framework to account for these changes.
rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Thanks so much @eryk.bsky.social & for making this connection. The question of what generative AI does to politics - and how the prompt comes to define and circumscribe the political. We are planning an event @leverhulmecal.bsky.social 2026 on this, would be great if you can join us.
Just now reading this from @amoorelouise.bsky.social et al, a great complement to the points in my "Anatomy of an AI Coup," emphasizing the constraints of prompting that transform the relationship between government workers & governance: durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4663100
Politics of the prompt: Government in the age of generative AI
This paper addresses the politics of the technique of prompting in machine learning, at a time when bureaucratic and democratic government is undergoing tr...
durham-repository.worktribe.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Thanks so much @eryk.bsky.social & for making this connection. The question of what generative AI does to politics - and how the prompt comes to define and circumscribe the political. We are planning an event @leverhulmecal.bsky.social 2026 on this, would be great if you can join us.
Reposted by Louise Amoore
Just Published: For the latest @jcmsjournal.bsky.social issue, Mal Ahern and I co-edited an In Focus dossier on 'Images and (Infra)structures,' which originally emerged from a lively @scmstudies.bsky.social roundtable in 2022. What, we ask, do images and infrastructure have to say to each other?
November 18, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Just Published: For the latest @jcmsjournal.bsky.social issue, Mal Ahern and I co-edited an In Focus dossier on 'Images and (Infra)structures,' which originally emerged from a lively @scmstudies.bsky.social roundtable in 2022. What, we ask, do images and infrastructure have to say to each other?
5 days in from spine surgery & I’m at the “sounding off on Bluesky” stage of recovery
October 28, 2025 at 1:23 PM
5 days in from spine surgery & I’m at the “sounding off on Bluesky” stage of recovery
Travel data has historically been a correlative proxy. Early 2000s data mining used one way flights (*purchased third party) in terror algorithms. These apparent “errors” by HMRC illuminate machine learning logics: 1/ combine gov cloud data
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
HMRC cuts child benefit for 35,000 families based on incomplete travel data
UK tax agency apologises after flagging people as having emigrated, often when they return via different routes
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Travel data has historically been a correlative proxy. Early 2000s data mining used one way flights (*purchased third party) in terror algorithms. These apparent “errors” by HMRC illuminate machine learning logics: 1/ combine gov cloud data
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Louise Amoore
Fuming here. I *really* wanted to go to this event on Thursday, about the history of CD ripping. But I can't, because I have to do dialysis. So frustrating. www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event...
Toward a more perfect rip: Lessons learned in the digital history of "secure" digital audio extraction (DAE) from CD media
Dr Eamonn Bell (Durham, UK) reflects on ripping, digital audio formats and the CD-ripping software ecosystem.
www.bbk.ac.uk
October 28, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Fuming here. I *really* wanted to go to this event on Thursday, about the history of CD ripping. But I can't, because I have to do dialysis. So frustrating. www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event...
Congratulations Dr Sydney Calkin on your Leverhulme Prize @leverhulme.ac.uk such crucial work
"Even abortion laws that are seen as ‘liberal’ can do grave harm to abortion-seekers. Nothing short of full decriminalization is sufficient.'—Sydney Calkin, author of ABORTION PILLS GO GLOBAL #NWSA2024
www.ucpress.edu/blog...
www.ucpress.edu/blog...
Author Q&A with Sydney Calkin
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
www.ucpress.edu
October 27, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Congratulations Dr Sydney Calkin on your Leverhulme Prize @leverhulme.ac.uk such crucial work
Reposted by Louise Amoore
Reposted by Louise Amoore
Next Friday (10/31 10AM), ORG will discuss @amoorelouise.bsky.social et al's recent article, "Politics of the Prompt", addressing "the politics of prompting in machine learning, at a time when bureaucratic & democratic government is undergoing transformation."
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com
October 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Next Friday (10/31 10AM), ORG will discuss @amoorelouise.bsky.social et al's recent article, "Politics of the Prompt", addressing "the politics of prompting in machine learning, at a time when bureaucratic & democratic government is undergoing transformation."
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Louise Amoore
Coming up Mon. Oct. 20 - 2pm ET / 7pm UK
"AI and the Digital: On Cloud Ethics and Beyond"
Join Louise Amoore with Audrewy Borowski as they discuss how machine learning algorithms are transforming the ethics and politics of contemporary society.
www.thephilosopher1923.org/events/ai-an...
"AI and the Digital: On Cloud Ethics and Beyond"
Join Louise Amoore with Audrewy Borowski as they discuss how machine learning algorithms are transforming the ethics and politics of contemporary society.
www.thephilosopher1923.org/events/ai-an...
AI and the Digital: On Cloud Ethics and Beyond
www.thephilosopher1923.org
October 15, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Coming up Mon. Oct. 20 - 2pm ET / 7pm UK
"AI and the Digital: On Cloud Ethics and Beyond"
Join Louise Amoore with Audrewy Borowski as they discuss how machine learning algorithms are transforming the ethics and politics of contemporary society.
www.thephilosopher1923.org/events/ai-an...
"AI and the Digital: On Cloud Ethics and Beyond"
Join Louise Amoore with Audrewy Borowski as they discuss how machine learning algorithms are transforming the ethics and politics of contemporary society.
www.thephilosopher1923.org/events/ai-an...
Reposted by Louise Amoore
What are the ethical responsibility of algorithms?
How might we think about forms of power, order, and rationality beyond the story of alliances between big tech and the state?
Join @amoorelouise.bsky.social and Audrey Borowski
Mon. Oct. 20 ~ 2pm ET / 7pm UK
www.tickettailor.com/events/theph...
How might we think about forms of power, order, and rationality beyond the story of alliances between big tech and the state?
Join @amoorelouise.bsky.social and Audrey Borowski
Mon. Oct. 20 ~ 2pm ET / 7pm UK
www.tickettailor.com/events/theph...
Select tickets – "On Cloud Ethics and Beyond": Louise Amoore in conversation with Audrey Borowski – Zoom
"On Cloud Ethics and Beyond": Louise Amoore in conversation with Audrey Borowski – Zoom, Mon 20 Oct 2025 - Machine learning algorithms are transforming the ethics and politics of contemporary society....
www.tickettailor.com
October 17, 2025 at 1:53 PM
What are the ethical responsibility of algorithms?
How might we think about forms of power, order, and rationality beyond the story of alliances between big tech and the state?
Join @amoorelouise.bsky.social and Audrey Borowski
Mon. Oct. 20 ~ 2pm ET / 7pm UK
www.tickettailor.com/events/theph...
How might we think about forms of power, order, and rationality beyond the story of alliances between big tech and the state?
Join @amoorelouise.bsky.social and Audrey Borowski
Mon. Oct. 20 ~ 2pm ET / 7pm UK
www.tickettailor.com/events/theph...
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 9:46 PM
Reposted by Louise Amoore
Thoughtful read on how prompts shift the political imagination & how it may influence government decision making. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Politics of the prompt: Government in the age of generative AI
This paper addresses the politics of the technique of prompting in machine learning, at a time when bureaucratic and democratic government is undergoing transformation. Drawing on the case of the U...
www.tandfonline.com
October 12, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Thoughtful read on how prompts shift the political imagination & how it may influence government decision making. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Louise Amoore
✨excited to start my UKRI AI Metascience fellowship, where I’ll examine how AI-generated synthetic data is (re)shaping medical research cultures and knowledge practices. Super happy to be staying at Durham University with @amoorelouise.bsky.social as my mentor!
www.ukri.org/news/interna...
www.ukri.org/news/interna...
International fellowships to explore AI’s impact on science
New £4 million programme funds early career researchers in the UK, US and Canada to investigate how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming science.
www.ukri.org
October 9, 2025 at 6:53 PM
✨excited to start my UKRI AI Metascience fellowship, where I’ll examine how AI-generated synthetic data is (re)shaping medical research cultures and knowledge practices. Super happy to be staying at Durham University with @amoorelouise.bsky.social as my mentor!
www.ukri.org/news/interna...
www.ukri.org/news/interna...
Our article on the politics of AI prompts is out now @econsocjournal.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... 1/n
Politics of the prompt: Government in the age of generative AI
This paper addresses the politics of the technique of prompting in machine learning, at a time when bureaucratic and democratic government is undergoing transformation. Drawing on the case of the U...
www.tandfonline.com
October 7, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Our article on the politics of AI prompts is out now @econsocjournal.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... 1/n
Such a nice paper on feature extraction as a project of perception - drone enclosures in digital India. “Feature extraction is an entirely speculative endeavour” rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers | RGS Journal | Wiley Online Library
Svamitva drone survey in Rajasthan. Source: Author.
rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 7, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Such a nice paper on feature extraction as a project of perception - drone enclosures in digital India. “Feature extraction is an entirely speculative endeavour” rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Louise Amoore
Welcome to the first day of the Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life. We look forward to working with you and hope that you will watch this space for recruitment, events, & more @leverhulme.ac.uk #AI #MachineLearning #SocialSciences #Humanities
October 1, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Welcome to the first day of the Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life. We look forward to working with you and hope that you will watch this space for recruitment, events, & more @leverhulme.ac.uk #AI #MachineLearning #SocialSciences #Humanities
“Wait though, if we use passport & visa images for facial recognition in policing, what about all the other people?”
“Ah yes, you’ve a point there”
“A compulsory enrollment, call it Brit card”
“Great, just don’t mention the biometrics or the facial recognition “
“Sorted”
www.gov.uk/government/p...
“Ah yes, you’ve a point there”
“A compulsory enrollment, call it Brit card”
“Great, just don’t mention the biometrics or the facial recognition “
“Sorted”
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Handling facial image search requests from law enforcement organisations (accessible)
www.gov.uk
September 26, 2025 at 12:46 PM
“Wait though, if we use passport & visa images for facial recognition in policing, what about all the other people?”
“Ah yes, you’ve a point there”
“A compulsory enrollment, call it Brit card”
“Great, just don’t mention the biometrics or the facial recognition “
“Sorted”
www.gov.uk/government/p...
“Ah yes, you’ve a point there”
“A compulsory enrollment, call it Brit card”
“Great, just don’t mention the biometrics or the facial recognition “
“Sorted”
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Oh dear, when Russian jets entered Estonian airspace two days ago, I may have wondered aloud why they would do that when they could hack Tallinn’s EU-LISA…. yet one more example of a visible face of war mirrored by digital and algorithmic architectures www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
EU cyber agency says airport software held to ransom by criminals
Brussels Airport asks airlines to cancel nearly half of their outgoing flights on Monday.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 22, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Oh dear, when Russian jets entered Estonian airspace two days ago, I may have wondered aloud why they would do that when they could hack Tallinn’s EU-LISA…. yet one more example of a visible face of war mirrored by digital and algorithmic architectures www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Robert St. Clair, Counter-Modernities in Nineteenth-Century French Literature: Constellations of Loss in Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Flaubert - Oxford University Press, July 2025
global.oup.com/academic/pro... @oxfordacademic.bsky.social
global.oup.com/academic/pro... @oxfordacademic.bsky.social
September 16, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Congratulations @bnjacobsen.bsky.social on the award of your ERC starting grant. Can’t wait to continue working with you and your new team @leverhulmecal.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu #AI #syntheticdata #machinelearning
I am very excited and honoured to be the recipient of an ERC Starting Grant, starting January 2026 🔆 @erc.europa.eu. The five-year project will explore the broader social, political, and ethical implications of training algorithmic models on synthetic data. www.york.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
New project to investigate societal consequences of using synthetic data to train algorithms
Researchers in the University of York’s Department of Sociology will lead one of the first large-scale, systematic social science studies of synthetic data.
www.york.ac.uk
September 4, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Congratulations @bnjacobsen.bsky.social on the award of your ERC starting grant. Can’t wait to continue working with you and your new team @leverhulmecal.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu #AI #syntheticdata #machinelearning
Reposted by Louise Amoore
This is just nonsense from a man who has repeatedly shown he doesn't know the first thing about his brief and doesn't care to learn
Me verifying my age does not stop any child accessing any content. Me using a VPN does not allow any child to access content. There is no causal relationship here
Me verifying my age does not stop any child accessing any content. Me using a VPN does not allow any child to access content. There is no causal relationship here
UK government asks everybody to stop using VPNs.
"everybody who's out there thinking of using VPNs...verifying your age keeps a child safe...So let's just not try and find a way around. Just prove your age."
- UK government
"everybody who's out there thinking of using VPNs...verifying your age keeps a child safe...So let's just not try and find a way around. Just prove your age."
- UK government
August 21, 2025 at 3:57 PM
This is just nonsense from a man who has repeatedly shown he doesn't know the first thing about his brief and doesn't care to learn
Me verifying my age does not stop any child accessing any content. Me using a VPN does not allow any child to access content. There is no causal relationship here
Me verifying my age does not stop any child accessing any content. Me using a VPN does not allow any child to access content. There is no causal relationship here
Reposted by Louise Amoore
Same govt, recently. (Not claiming the U.S. is any better!)
In a new digital twist to environmental individualisation of responsibility, the UK government is now advising people to “[d]elete old emails and pictures” in data centres to help with the current drought. www.gov.uk/government/n...
August 21, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Same govt, recently. (Not claiming the U.S. is any better!)
Reposted by Louise Amoore
university presidents think they're cutting deals to restore their funding. i get their pressures. but this is what's happening: ramping up the extortion, creating homogeneous zones of government-directed curricula, shutting down campus speech.
UC says Trump demand for $1-billion fine would 'completely devastate' university system
The Trump administration has proposed the University of California pay more than $1 billion to settle antisemitism charges and restore frozen grant funding at UCLA.
www.latimes.com
August 8, 2025 at 8:42 PM
university presidents think they're cutting deals to restore their funding. i get their pressures. but this is what's happening: ramping up the extortion, creating homogeneous zones of government-directed curricula, shutting down campus speech.
Reposted by Louise Amoore
ICYMI Early Career Paper Prize 2026!
It entails two good things in one: publication in the journal 2026 & £1000 award.
Another one which the journal excels in: in-depth peer-reviews; every submission gets reviewed by members of editorial board, plus externals.
It entails two good things in one: publication in the journal 2026 & £1000 award.
Another one which the journal excels in: in-depth peer-reviews; every submission gets reviewed by members of editorial board, plus externals.
The Economy and Society Early Career Paper Prize 2026 is now live.
£1000 prize.
Submission deadline: 15/12/25
Details here and in the News and CfP section of our website
files.taylorandfrancis.com/economy-and-...
£1000 prize.
Submission deadline: 15/12/25
Details here and in the News and CfP section of our website
files.taylorandfrancis.com/economy-and-...
files.taylorandfrancis.com
July 22, 2025 at 9:04 AM
ICYMI Early Career Paper Prize 2026!
It entails two good things in one: publication in the journal 2026 & £1000 award.
Another one which the journal excels in: in-depth peer-reviews; every submission gets reviewed by members of editorial board, plus externals.
It entails two good things in one: publication in the journal 2026 & £1000 award.
Another one which the journal excels in: in-depth peer-reviews; every submission gets reviewed by members of editorial board, plus externals.