Artificial Intelligence from Colonial India: Race, Statistics, and Facial Recognition in the Global South

2021 ◽  
pp. 016224392110608
Author(s):  
Simon Michael Taylor ◽  
Kalervo N. Gulson ◽  
Duncan McDuie-Ra
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Distance Function ◽  
Facial Recognition ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Colonial India ◽  
Measurement Function ◽  
Machine Learning Applications ◽  
Ethnic Classification ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation

This article examines the history of a similarity measure—the Mahalanobis Distance Function—and its movement from colonial India into contemporary artificial intelligence technologies, including facial recognition, and its reapplication into postcolonial India. The article identifies how the creation of the Distance Function was connected to the colonial “problem” of caste and ethnic classification for British bureaucracy in 1920-1930s India. This article demonstrates that the Distance Function is a statistical method, originating to make anthropometric caste distinctions in India, that became both a technical standard and a mobile racialized technique, utilized in machine learning applications. The creation of the Distance Function as a measure of “similitude” at a particular period of colonial state-making helped to model wider categories of classification which have proliferated in facial recognition technology. Overall, we highlight how a measurement function that operates in recognition technologies today can be traced across time and space to other racialized contexts.

scholarly journals Peasants, Colonialism, and Sovereignty: The Garo rebellions in eastern India

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
SANGHAMITRA MISRA
Keyword(s):  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Colonial India ◽  
Colonial Modernity ◽  
Northeastern India ◽  
British Rule ◽  
Core Elements ◽  
Colonial Archive ◽  
History Of

Abstract This article studies two seismic decades in the history of the Garo community, marked out in colonial records as among the most violent and isolated people that British rule encountered in eastern and northeastern India. Through a densely knit historical narrative that hinges on an enquiry into the colonial reordering of the core elements of the regional political economy of eastern and northeastern India, it will train its focus on the figure of the rebellious Garo peasant and on the arresting display of Garo recalcitrance between 1807 and 1820. Reading a rich colonial archive closely and against the grain, the article will depart from extant historiography in its characterization of the colonial state in the early nineteenth century as well as of its relationship with ‘tribes’/‘peasants’ in eastern and northeastern India. A critique of the idea of primitive violence and the production of the ‘tribe’ under conditions of colonial modernity will occupy the latter half of the article. Here it will argue that the numerous and apparently disparate acts of headhunting, raids, plunder, and burning by the Garos on the lowlands of Bengal and Assam were in fact an assembling of the first of a series of sustained peasant rebellions in this part of colonial India—a powerful manifestation of a community's historical consciousness of the loss of its sovereign self under British rule.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Durba Mitra
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Female Sexuality ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Colonial India ◽  
Colonial Studies ◽  
Scientific Analysis ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social Scientific

This introductory chapter traces the history of the concept of the sexually deviant female in colonial India. It first takes a look at how the figure of the prostitute appears across different archives from colonial India and within analyses of Indian social life. The chapter then shows how colonial studies on the nature of Indian society were to become the empirical basis for universalist theories of comparative societies. Indeed, the colonial state in India was, at its inception, an experiment in new forms of scientific and social scientific practices that were to influence state practices and the formation of disciplinary knowledge in the colony and metropole. At the heart of these sciences of society was a concern about structuring, tracing, and mapping the social world of colonial India through the assessment of women's sexuality. These histories reveal the way key debates about gender, caste, communal difference, and social hierarchy in India became objects of social scientific analysis through the description and evaluation of female sexuality. And, as the chapter shows, this social scientific imaginary had extraordinary reach.

Psychiatrists and psychiatry in late colonial India

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-548
Author(s):  
Shilpi Rajpal
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
The State ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Colonial India ◽  
History Of

The history of professionalisation of psychiatry in India is an array of parallel histories. The article describes the variegated processes of professionalisation, modernisation and Indianisation and the impediments that colonialism created in their path. It charts the reification of the professional identity of a psychiatrist which was uniquely different from the Western counterpart. The process that began at the turn of the twentieth century was far from complete even on the eve of independence. It argues that psychiatry remained at the margins of medicine and the colonial state maintained an indifferent attitude towards development of the mental sciences. Highlighting contributions of individual psychiatrists and juxtaposing them with those of the state, this article situates psychiatrists as historical actors and how the emergence of psychiatry was enmeshed with political histories of the period.

Homo Ludens, Machine Ludens: The Way to Ideal Neural Network and Background of Posthumanism

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1-1) ◽  
pp. 151-165
Author(s):  
Maria Ivanchenko ◽  
◽  
Pavel Arkhipov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Neural Networks ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Philosophical Concept ◽  
Critical Methodology ◽  
Strong Artificial Intelligence ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation

The article consists of an introduction, a main part with three sections and a conclusion. The purpose of the study is to disclose the content of the concepts of “A Man Playing”, “A Machine Playing”, “Posthumanism” and “Essentiocognitivism”; review current advances in artificial intelligence and neural networks. The article focuses on the philosophy of posthumanism in the context of its application in machine learning, as well as a new philosophical concept called “essentiocognitivism” in its relation to artificial intelligence. The object of the study is the philosophical concept of essentiosocognitivism. The subject of the article is the consideration of certain aspects of this concept related to artificial intelligence as a “playing machine” and the positioning of a human being in the world of posthumanism. In the course of the work, critical methodology was used, on the basis of which the strengths and weaknesses of artificial neural networks were highlighted, the current state of the most famous playing neural networks, such as OpenAI and Alpha series from DeepMind, was analyzed, and the upcoming development of AI is considered in the context of a technological singularity. A philosophical comprehension has been made of certain aspects of essentiocognitivism, which play an important role in the history of the development of posthumanism. It is noted that the future of neural networks is largely determined by the gaming industry and moves towards the creation of a strong artificial intelligence, like the Playing Machine. Scientific novelty consists in examining a fundamentally new concept in the history of philosophy and substantiating the place and role of AI in the evolution of intelligent man. In the course of work, it was revealed that AI and, in particular, promising neural networks allow us to predict the probable future of mankind. As a basic thesis, we use the position derived from biological sciences that the evolution of the species Homo sapiens is not over, and will continue in a technological manner. As a result of the study, a working concept of essentiocognitivism was introduced, and the conclusion was made that trans- and posthumanism can solve many global problems of mankind. It is emphasized that the future lies in the creation of a strong AI.

‘The History of Gods’

2020 ◽  
pp. 49-62
Author(s):  
Joshua Grimm
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Turing Test ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Entire Process ◽  
Human Interactions ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation

The evolution of artificial intelligence in science fiction film has showcased an array of technological marvels, and yet each reflects the era in which the films were made, be it what the device looks like, the extent of its power, or the ethical/moral issues surrounding its existence. Ex Machina is no different, with the development of AI firmly embedded in the tech industry. Caleb’s entire purpose for being at Nathan’s compound is to determine whether Nathan has, in fact, created artificial intelligence or if Ava is simply imitating human interactions. This is called the Turing Test, which has been around for nearly 70 years, and it has been rigorously debated for almost its entire existence. Ex Machina pushes this debate by accepting and challenging key assumptions of the Turing Test while positing its own: The role affection/attraction/love might play in the entire process. As such, by considering these emotional components (as expressed toward the creation rather than from it) grounds the discussion in terms of morality and soul, something previous films have treated more as a by-product of artificial intelligence.

scholarly journals THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN UKRAINE: FROM THE COLONIAL STAGE TO AUTOCEPHALY

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svitlana Kahamlyk
Keyword(s):  
Negotiation Process ◽  
First Century ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Free Development ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Rights And Interests ◽  
The Church

The article analyzes the major milestones in history of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. The main attention is pay to the first century of colonial state of the Church, from the time when the Kyiv Metropolitanate was subordinated to the Moscow Patriarchate in 1686 until the act of secularization of church lands in 1786. During that time the Ukrainian church elite defended her rights and interests in the conditions of Russian centralism. In particular, the attempts of higher clergy to preserve the traditional canonical jurisdiction of Church in Constantinople patriarchy as so as the actions of elite in protecting the interests of church institutions in the conditions of subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate (1686-1720) and advocacy of legal rights and property of the Orthodox Church in Synodal period (1721-1786) are considered in the abstract form. It is concluded that the century in Ukrainian history since the subordination of the Kyiv Metropolitanate of Moscow Patriarchate in 1686 to the act of secularization of church lands in 1786 marked the opposition of the Ukrainian ecclesiastical elite to Russian centralism and the attempt to defend traditional rights and interests of the Orthodox Church in various forms. The success of the struggle of the Ukrainian church elite for its rights directly depended on the interests and tastes of the Russian ruling circles, as well as on the support of the secular elite and the heads of the Hetmanate. It is noted that since the independence of Ukraine, a negotiation process between the three branches of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine - the UOC-MP, the UOC-KP, and the UAOC, has begun which was held with varying success. The lack of effective agreements on the creation of a single Ukrainian Local Orthodox Church was associated with different views of each of the parties of the principles of the unification process and their different understanding of canonicality. The significance of the agreement reached by the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on the provision by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Tomos of autocephaly and the creation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Local Church are stressed. This will begin a new stage in the history of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine - a return to free development of the Stavropig of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

scholarly journals Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Applications in Smart Production: Progress, Trends and Directions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonella Petrillo ◽  
Marta Travaglioni ◽  
Fabio De Felice ◽  
Raffaele Cioffi ◽  
Giuseppina Piscitelli
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Machine Learning ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Data Series ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Machine Learning Applications ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
To Receive

The history of Artificial Intelligence (AI) development dates to the 40s. The researchers showed strong expectations until the 70s, when they began to encounter serious difficulties and investments were greatly, reduced. With the introduction of the Industry 4.0, one of the techniques adopted for AI implementation is Machine Learning (ML) that focuses on the machines ability to receive data series and learn on their own. Given the considerable importance of the subject, researchers have completed many studies on ML to ensure that machines are able to replace or relieve human tasks. This research aims to analyze, systematically, the literature on several aspects, including publication year, authors, scientific sector, country, institution, keywords. Analyzing existing literature on AI is a necessary stage to recommend policy on the matter. The analysis has been done using Web of Science and SCOPUS database. Furthermore, UCINET and NVivo 12 software have been used to complete them. Literature review on ML and AI empirical studies published in the last century was carried out to highlight the evolution of the topic before and after Industry 4.0 introduction, from 1999 to now. Eighty-two articles were reviewed and classified. A first interesting result is the greater number of works published by USA and the increasing interest after the birth of Industry 4.0.

Debating Radical Cinema: A History of the Film Society Movement in India

2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 731-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROCHONA MAJUMDAR
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Colonial India ◽  
Film Directors ◽  
Cultural Movements ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Satyajit Ray

AbstractThis paper offers a history of the creation and development of film societies in India from 1947 to 1980. Members of the film society movement consisted of important Indian film directors such as Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Shyam Benegal, Basu Chatterji, Mani Kaul, G. Aravindan, Kumar Shahani, Adoor Gopalkrishnan, and Mrinal Sen, as well as film enthusiasts, numbering about 100,000 by 1980. The movement, confined though it was to members who considered themselves film aficionados, was propelled by debates similar to those that animated left-oriented cultural movements which originated in late colonial India, namely, the Progressive Writers Association in 1936, and the Indian People's Theatre Association in 1942. By looking at the film society movement as an early and sustained attempt at civil-social organization in postcolonial India, this paper highlights the two distinct definitions of ‘good cinema’—from an aesthetically sophisticated product to a radical political text—that were debated during the time of the movement.

Colonial law in the making

2015 ◽  
Vol 83 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 202-225
Author(s):  
Benoît Henriet
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Territorial Expansion ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Political Sovereignty ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Congo Free State ◽  
Legislative Processes ◽  
Made In

From its creation to the present day, jurists and historians have perceived the Congo Free State (CFS) as a special example of political sovereignty. As a ‘colony without Metropolis’ whose territorial basis was obtained through disputed treaties made in the name of geographical and philanthropic societies with almost no legal existence, it stands out at first sight as an anomaly in nineteenth century colonial State building. Yet, the Free State’s legal existence is largely rooted in other imperial experiences, and shares multiple common features with its colonial rivals. This article intends to show how, from H.M. Stanley’s first expeditions in the mouth of the Congo River (1876) to the creation of Belgian colony (1908), international law and foreign imperial rules were used as the very matrix of the CFS’s legal existence as a sovereign State. The particular history of the CFS’s quest for sovereignty and the creation of its land legislation not only offers a unique example of colonial law making, it also provides interesting outputs on colonial legislative processes, as well as general observations on the West’s territorial expansion in the nineteenth century.


Ex Machina in the Garden

2016 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 23-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Jacobson
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Technological Change ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Technological Means

Alex Garland's Ex Machina (2015) explores both long-standing discourses about artificial intelligence and more recent concerns about automation, surveillance, and big data. It does so by associating AI creation not solely with science, technology, and religion but also with the history of art and, more reflexively, with film itself. In this way, the film becomes an allegory for its own production, a story about representation and the creation of artificial film worlds by new technological means. This reflexivity underscores cinema's important role in popular discourses about technological change, a role it has long served as a “technocritical art.” AI films like Ex Machina suggest that this role is changing as film enters not just the digital age but also what W.J.T. Mitchell terms the age of biocybernetics.

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