Kin
@cell-less.bsky.social
Artist, essayist, mum. PhD candidate, 'Digital Fatalism'. Long-time critic of surveillance tech. Making video art/new media/net art. Latest article in AI & Society journal: https://rdcu.be/dJu7u
A nice little interview with me on Digital Arts Blog plus a few photos of my work Dissimulation, a three-screen video installation about hidden labour in AI: www.digitalartsblog.com/artist-spotl...
Kin>% on Digital Fatalism, Hidden Labor, and the Politics of AI — DIGITAL ARTS BLOG
Kin>% (cell_less) is a UK-based PhD artist-researcher whose practice investigates narratives of technological inevitability and the ways algorithmic systems make decisions for and about us. Working ac...
www.digitalartsblog.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:54 PM
A nice little interview with me on Digital Arts Blog plus a few photos of my work Dissimulation, a three-screen video installation about hidden labour in AI: www.digitalartsblog.com/artist-spotl...
Speculative futures can come from the left or the right. An interesting article on different approaches to sci-fi and how Musk, Thiel etc are attempting to 'turn its contents into tools for their own forms of memetic warfare'. artreview.com/space-racism...
Space Racism: How the Right Captured Science Fiction
Before Musk and Thiel, a shadow history throws the often idealistic hopes of progressive science-fiction cultures into stark and unstable relief
artreview.com
September 17, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Speculative futures can come from the left or the right. An interesting article on different approaches to sci-fi and how Musk, Thiel etc are attempting to 'turn its contents into tools for their own forms of memetic warfare'. artreview.com/space-racism...
Reform MPs completely absent from Commons statement on ‘grooming gangs'. This speaks volumes. There are MPs working hard to tackle child exploitation whereas Reform can't even be bothered to turn up. thecanary.co/uk/news/2025...
@thecanaryuk.bsky.social
@thecanaryuk.bsky.social
Reform MPs completely absent from Commons statement on 'grooming gangs'
Farage himself has a notably terrible Commons attendance record. But the lack of Reform MPs at the statement is particularly egregious.
thecanary.co
September 17, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Reform MPs completely absent from Commons statement on ‘grooming gangs'. This speaks volumes. There are MPs working hard to tackle child exploitation whereas Reform can't even be bothered to turn up. thecanary.co/uk/news/2025...
@thecanaryuk.bsky.social
@thecanaryuk.bsky.social
AI inevitability isn’t destiny — it’s rhetoric. Read my review of Becker’s More Everything Forever. His critique shows how Longtermism rests on speculative futures and 'troubling moral arithmetic' rather than grounded evidence. medium.com/@kin.artcoll...
The fundamental flaws of the rhetoric of AI inevitability
Review of Adam Becker, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity…
medium.com
September 17, 2025 at 10:29 AM
AI inevitability isn’t destiny — it’s rhetoric. Read my review of Becker’s More Everything Forever. His critique shows how Longtermism rests on speculative futures and 'troubling moral arithmetic' rather than grounded evidence. medium.com/@kin.artcoll...
What is inside the black box of AI? My latest video installation is an exposé of the hidden labour that goes into making AI, specifically click-work and data-labelling which is outsourced by hugely profitable US companies often to low-paid, precarious workers. cell-less.com/2025/09/10/d...
Dissimulation
The metaphor of the ‘black box’ is commonly used to describe systems in which the inputs and outputs are known but the inner mechanisms are not. ‘Artificial intelligence’ technologies are an exampl…
cell-less.com
September 17, 2025 at 10:28 AM
What is inside the black box of AI? My latest video installation is an exposé of the hidden labour that goes into making AI, specifically click-work and data-labelling which is outsourced by hugely profitable US companies often to low-paid, precarious workers. cell-less.com/2025/09/10/d...
Digging into the 'troubling moral arithmetic' of Longtermism, this is my review of Adam Becker's latest book More Everything Forever (Basic Books): medium.com/@kin.artcoll...
The fundamental flaws of the rhetoric of AI inevitability
Review of Adam Becker, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity…
medium.com
September 16, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Digging into the 'troubling moral arithmetic' of Longtermism, this is my review of Adam Becker's latest book More Everything Forever (Basic Books): medium.com/@kin.artcoll...
Billionaires interfering with our democracy. Who would have thought it? 🙄
US cash turned Tommy Robinson into the poster boy of UK f...
Outside the Old Bailey in 2018, a reinvented Tommy Robinson flashed his perfect new teeth to 2,000 diehard supporters at a “free Tommy” rally on a stage ...
observer.co.uk
September 15, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Billionaires interfering with our democracy. Who would have thought it? 🙄
Really enjoyed recording this last podcast episode with Dr Eleanor Dare whose recent work includes the AI Forensics project at @camdighum.bsky.social
We talk about AI and power, impossibly huge datasets, deskilling and the impacts of ChatGPT in education contexts #ai #bigtech #technews
We talk about AI and power, impossibly huge datasets, deskilling and the impacts of ChatGPT in education contexts #ai #bigtech #technews
Digital Fatalism: Eleanor Dare
Podcast Episode · Digital Fatalism · 05/20/2025 · 26m
podcasts.apple.com
May 21, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Really enjoyed recording this last podcast episode with Dr Eleanor Dare whose recent work includes the AI Forensics project at @camdighum.bsky.social
We talk about AI and power, impossibly huge datasets, deskilling and the impacts of ChatGPT in education contexts #ai #bigtech #technews
We talk about AI and power, impossibly huge datasets, deskilling and the impacts of ChatGPT in education contexts #ai #bigtech #technews
Reposted by Kin
And.... it finally happened. #23andMe is a perfect #privacy example to learn from. When companies who amass troves of very personal data go bankrupt, the data gets sold or acquired by other companies, further complicating already questionable "consent" practices.
23andMe sold out of bankruptcy to Regeneron
Drugmaker’s takeover could raise privacy concerns among genetics start-up’s 15mn users
www.ft.com
May 20, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Some photos/videos from my recent commission at NewBridge Project, Newcastle, thinking through algorithm-related issues like visibility/black-boxing/agency/public engagement through the metaphor of 'dissolving': cell-less.com/2025/05/02/t...
The Dissolve
‘Dissolving black boxes’ (interactive installation/moving image) was an Everyday Algorithms micro-commission, supported by The NewBridge Project and curated by Shelly Knotts. The metaph…
cell-less.com
May 14, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Some photos/videos from my recent commission at NewBridge Project, Newcastle, thinking through algorithm-related issues like visibility/black-boxing/agency/public engagement through the metaphor of 'dissolving': cell-less.com/2025/05/02/t...
There are 4 episodes in my podcast series interviewing artists/researchers about narratives of inevitability in technology discourses, automated decision-making and ideologies of the tech industry. It's very niche but if you're into this kind of thing, listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
May 14, 2025 at 9:38 AM
There are 4 episodes in my podcast series interviewing artists/researchers about narratives of inevitability in technology discourses, automated decision-making and ideologies of the tech industry. It's very niche but if you're into this kind of thing, listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
Reposted by Kin
"A new dataset, visualized as maps, reveals the extent to which African workers are indirectly employed in the tech sector, doing content moderation, customer service, and data annotation for AI models, among other jobs." restofworld.org/2025/big-tec...
April 28, 2025 at 11:50 AM
"A new dataset, visualized as maps, reveals the extent to which African workers are indirectly employed in the tech sector, doing content moderation, customer service, and data annotation for AI models, among other jobs." restofworld.org/2025/big-tec...
Reposted by Kin
the ACM CHI conference has fully embraced AI snake-oil this year. this is the world-leading conference on human-computer interaction. absolutely unacceptable. if the conference won't remove these and distance itself from pseudoscience, the HCI community loses all credibility
April 17, 2025 at 3:09 PM
the ACM CHI conference has fully embraced AI snake-oil this year. this is the world-leading conference on human-computer interaction. absolutely unacceptable. if the conference won't remove these and distance itself from pseudoscience, the HCI community loses all credibility
Great attendance at the wave of protests yesterday in Newcastle. Why is the government cutting support for disabled people yet increasing spending on defence/military? It can't go unchallenged. #WelfareNotWarfare spread the message.
#WelfareNotWarfare
Useful stats and figures to use in interviews when speaking to the media
dpac.uk.net/2025/03/disa...
Useful stats and figures to use in interviews when speaking to the media
dpac.uk.net/2025/03/disa...
dpac.uk.net
March 27, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Great attendance at the wave of protests yesterday in Newcastle. Why is the government cutting support for disabled people yet increasing spending on defence/military? It can't go unchallenged. #WelfareNotWarfare spread the message.
Well this is kind of cool... An interactive website teaching about Dark Patterns on the internet neal.fun/dark-patterns/
March 25, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Well this is kind of cool... An interactive website teaching about Dark Patterns on the internet neal.fun/dark-patterns/
An AI-bot accuses a university scholar of being a 'terrorist'. In what crazy world does the university act on AI-fabricated claims without verifying any legitimacy? And this university was rated #1 of Best Law Schools! mondoweiss.net/2025/03/susp... @yaleisp.bsky.social
Suspended for Pro-Palestine Speech: My statement on Yale Law School’s embrace of AI-generated smears
Helyeh Doutaghi was placed on leave by Yale Law School after being falsely accused of “terrorism” over her support for Palestine. She says her case reflects the new era of Zionist McCarthyism and that...
mondoweiss.net
March 25, 2025 at 2:28 PM
An AI-bot accuses a university scholar of being a 'terrorist'. In what crazy world does the university act on AI-fabricated claims without verifying any legitimacy? And this university was rated #1 of Best Law Schools! mondoweiss.net/2025/03/susp... @yaleisp.bsky.social
'A study by Uplevel Data Labs tracked 800 software engineers using Copilot on GitHub and found no measurable increase in coding productivity, despite this exact use case being the one pointed to the most by AI companies'.
Is anyone still convinced by AI hype? prospect.org/power/2025-0...
Is anyone still convinced by AI hype? prospect.org/power/2025-0...
Bubble Trouble
An AI bubble threatens Silicon Valley, and all of us.
prospect.org
March 25, 2025 at 1:44 PM
'A study by Uplevel Data Labs tracked 800 software engineers using Copilot on GitHub and found no measurable increase in coding productivity, despite this exact use case being the one pointed to the most by AI companies'.
Is anyone still convinced by AI hype? prospect.org/power/2025-0...
Is anyone still convinced by AI hype? prospect.org/power/2025-0...
Reposted by Kin
The money being poured into AI far outpaces the Manhattan Project ($30b today) and Operation Warp Speed ($18b) combined, and rivals the cost of the entire Interstate Highway System ($114b) - for gains that are much much more speculative.
Today's feature from our latest print issue is from researcher and writer Bryan McMahon about AI, and specifically the *business* of AI. Though hundreds of billions have been poured in, that money hasn't bought dominance, & a gaping hole in the public markets may result.
prospect.org/power/2025-0...
prospect.org/power/2025-0...
Bubble Trouble
An AI bubble threatens Silicon Valley, and all of us.
prospect.org
March 25, 2025 at 1:03 PM
The money being poured into AI far outpaces the Manhattan Project ($30b today) and Operation Warp Speed ($18b) combined, and rivals the cost of the entire Interstate Highway System ($114b) - for gains that are much much more speculative.
With 23andMe filing for bankruptcy, there's talk of genetic data being for sale. Data from 15 million people (plus any relatives who are connected genetically).
If it's sold to a company with ties to law enforcement, what could possibly go wrong...? www.eff.org/deeplinks/20... @eff.org
If it's sold to a company with ties to law enforcement, what could possibly go wrong...? www.eff.org/deeplinks/20... @eff.org
A Sale of 23andMe’s Data Would Be Bad for Privacy. Here’s What Customers Can Do.
The CEO of 23andMe has recently said she’d consider selling the genetic genealogy testing company–and with it, the sensitive DNA data that it’s collected, and stored, from many of its 15 million custo...
www.eff.org
March 25, 2025 at 1:03 PM
With 23andMe filing for bankruptcy, there's talk of genetic data being for sale. Data from 15 million people (plus any relatives who are connected genetically).
If it's sold to a company with ties to law enforcement, what could possibly go wrong...? www.eff.org/deeplinks/20... @eff.org
If it's sold to a company with ties to law enforcement, what could possibly go wrong...? www.eff.org/deeplinks/20... @eff.org
I've been endlessly obsessed with masks/pseudonyms so I love reading stuff like this: 'Our masks are not there to hide our identity but to reveal it... Masking symbolises the rejection of the cult of personality, rooted in consumer capitalism’. Written on masks at Carnival Against Capital, 1999.
March 20, 2025 at 4:08 PM
I've been endlessly obsessed with masks/pseudonyms so I love reading stuff like this: 'Our masks are not there to hide our identity but to reveal it... Masking symbolises the rejection of the cult of personality, rooted in consumer capitalism’. Written on masks at Carnival Against Capital, 1999.
Love this: 'The process of invisibilization...from the cloudification of networks to the emergence of algorithmic governance – has gone hand in hand with the evolution of media activism and hacktivist practices employing anonymity and invisibility as tactical weapons': inactual.it/zone-di-opac...
Zone di opacità offensiva | Inactual
Inactual è un collettivo artistico, editoriale e curatoriale, attivo ai confini tra arte contemporanea, tecnologia e pensiero critico. A cura di Christian Nirvana Damato, Emilia Angelucci e Giovanni R...
inactual.it
March 20, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Love this: 'The process of invisibilization...from the cloudification of networks to the emergence of algorithmic governance – has gone hand in hand with the evolution of media activism and hacktivist practices employing anonymity and invisibility as tactical weapons': inactual.it/zone-di-opac...
Spent the afternoon at a seminar on AI in schools. It was a small group but good to see that people in Newcastle are thinking critically about AI in Ed-Tech. 1/2
March 19, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Spent the afternoon at a seminar on AI in schools. It was a small group but good to see that people in Newcastle are thinking critically about AI in Ed-Tech. 1/2
Alexa-enabled devices lost Amazon $25 bil from 2017-2021. How are they planning on saving it? By sending everyone's voice recordings to the cloud so that you can activate Alexa without having to actually say 'Alexa'... Are people happy to sacrifice privacy for this? arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...
Everything you say to your Echo will be sent to Amazon starting on March 28
Amazon is killing a privacy feature to bolster Alexa+, the new subscription assistant.
arstechnica.com
March 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Alexa-enabled devices lost Amazon $25 bil from 2017-2021. How are they planning on saving it? By sending everyone's voice recordings to the cloud so that you can activate Alexa without having to actually say 'Alexa'... Are people happy to sacrifice privacy for this? arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...
A few pics from Peter Kennard's 'Archive of Dissent'. He says that his art "rails at the waste of lives caused by the trillions spent on manufacturing weapons and the vast profits made by arms companies.” I particularly like his newer works incorporating light/projection into photomontage.
March 17, 2025 at 5:28 PM
A few pics from Peter Kennard's 'Archive of Dissent'. He says that his art "rails at the waste of lives caused by the trillions spent on manufacturing weapons and the vast profits made by arms companies.” I particularly like his newer works incorporating light/projection into photomontage.
Reposted by Kin
I'm hiring for a postdoc! 🌟 pls help spread the word
Senior Research and Teaching Associate (PostDoc)
with a focus on Internet Use and Society
details here: webuse.org/postdoc/
Senior Research and Teaching Associate (PostDoc)
with a focus on Internet Use and Society
details here: webuse.org/postdoc/
March 17, 2025 at 4:15 PM
I'm hiring for a postdoc! 🌟 pls help spread the word
Senior Research and Teaching Associate (PostDoc)
with a focus on Internet Use and Society
details here: webuse.org/postdoc/
Senior Research and Teaching Associate (PostDoc)
with a focus on Internet Use and Society
details here: webuse.org/postdoc/