A Critical Theory of Advertising as Surveillance: Algorithms, Big Data, and Power

2016 ◽  
pp. 148-162
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Critical Theory

scholarly journals Big Data et quantification de soi : La gouvernementalité algorithmique dans le monde numériquement administré

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxime Ouellet ◽  
Marc Ménard ◽  
Maude Bonenfant ◽  
André Mondoux
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Frankfurt School ◽  
Nous Allons ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Critical Tradition ◽  
And Control ◽  
Tools And Methods

This article aims to discuss, from a critical theory perspective, the apparent paradox between the ability to monitor and control made possible by Big Data and the belief in the latter’s emancipatory potential. The goal is to assess to what extent the data, tools and methods characteristic of Big Dataconstitute self-regulation processes that are similar to a dynamics of governance and surveillance. We will analyze this phenomenon on the basis of two concepts inherited from the critical tradition in social science, namely that of the administered world as formulated by the Frankfurt School theorists, and that of governmentality as developed by Michel Foucault.Cet article a pour objectif de discuter, du point de vue de la théorie critique, de cet apparent paradoxe entre les capacités de contrôle et de surveillance rendues possibles par le Big Data et la croyance en son potentiel émancipateur. Il s’agit d’évaluer dans quelle mesure les données, outils et méthodes caractéristiques du Big Data constituent des processus d’autorégulation qui s’assimilent à une dynamique de gouvernance et de surveillance. Nous allons analyser ce phénomène à partir de deux notions héritées de la tradition critique en science sociale, soit celle de monde administré formulée par les théoriciens de l’École de Francfort, et celle de gouvernementalité développée par Michel Foucault.

scholarly journals Günther Anders’ Undiscovered Critical Theory of Technology in the Age of Big Data Capitalism

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 582-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Main Work ◽  
Political Activist ◽  
Critical Theory Of Technology ◽  
The Third Reich ◽  
Key Aspects

Günther Anders (1902-1992) was an Austrian philosopher, critical theorist, political activist, and a writer of poems, short stories and novels. His works on the critical theory of technology have remained rather undiscovered. His main work Die Antiquiertheit des Menschen (The Antiquatedness of the Human Being) appeared in two volumes and has thus far not been published in English. This essay reviews key aspects of Anders’ works and uses them to critically assess big data capitalism. It first discusses Anders’ concept of the Promethean gap; the gap between what humans can produce with the help of technologies and the capacity of imagining the negative effects these technologies can have. The essay also engages with Anders’ analysis of commercial television and radio. Anders sees capitalism as having catastrophic potentials. He argues that Auschwitz and Hiroshima are two symbols of 20th-century catastrophism. The article discusses Anders’ letter to Klaus Eichmann, the son of Adolf Eichmann, who was in charge of the organisation of the displacement and deportation of Jews in the Third Reich. It furthermore analyses the exchange of letters between Anders and Claude Eatherly, the pilot of an aircraft that supported dropping the nuclear bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. Finally, the paper engages with Anders’ critique of Martin Heidegger’s philosophy. In the age of the Internet and big data capitalism, Anders’ warnings about the potential negative effects of capitalist technologies and capitalism remain of crucial relevance and have taken on new qualities. Anders’ philosophy is an undiscovered critical theory of technology that allows us to critically understand power structures in the age of big data and social media.Günther Anders and Hannah Arendt. Source: posted on Flickr as CC by acido nucleio, https://www.flickr.com/photos/guntheranders/4248063814

Algorithmic culture and the colonization of life-worlds

Thesis Eleven ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Simon Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Communicative Action ◽  
Theoretical Expression ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Theory Of Communicative Action ◽  
Digital Algorithms ◽  
Digital Cultures

This article explores some of the concerns which are being raised about algorithms with recourse to Habermas’s theory of communicative action. The intention is not to undertake an empirical examination of ‘algorithms’ or their consequences but to connect critical theory to some contemporary concerns regarding digital cultures. Habermas’s ‘colonization of life-worlds’ thesis gives theoretical expression to two different trends which underlie many current criticisms of the insidious influence of digital algorithms: the privatization of communication, and the particularization of knowledge and experience. Habermas’s social theory therefore offers a useful framework for exploring some of the normative and political problems that are attributed to ‘algorithmic culture’ and ‘big data’.

scholarly journals Rage against the machine learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2 Abr-Jun) ◽  
pp. 06-23
Author(s):  
Arthur Coelho Bezerra ◽  
Marco Antônio de Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Deep Learning ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Theory Of Information ◽  
The 19Th Century

Before being an exaltation to Luddites (the English workers from the 19th century who actually destroyed textile machinery as a form of protest) or to some sort of technophobic movement, the provocative pun contained in the title of this article carries a methodological proposal, in the field of critical theory of information, to build a diagnosis about the algorithmic filtering of information, which reveals itself to be a structural characteristic of the new regime of information that brings challenges to human emancipation. Our analysis starts from the concept of mediation to problematize the belief, widespread in much of contemporary society, that the use of machine learning and deep learning techniques for algorithmic filtering of big data will provide answers and solutions to all our questions and problems. We will argue that the algorithmic mediation of information on the internet, which is responsible for deciding which information we will have access to and which will remain invisible, is operated according to the economic interests of the companies that control the platforms we visit on the internet, acting as obstacle to the prospects of informational diversity and autonomy that are fundamental in free and democratic societies.

Find Out About 'Big Data' to Track Outcomes

ASHA Leader ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-59
Keyword(s):  
Big Data

Find Out About 'Big Data' to Track Outcomes

Correlating Personality and Actual Phone Usage

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 158-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Montag ◽  
Konrad Błaszkiewicz ◽  
Bernd Lachmann ◽  
Ionut Andone ◽  
Rayna Sariyska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Psychological Variables ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Report Data ◽  
Self Report Data ◽  
Voice Calls

In the present study we link self-report-data on personality to behavior recorded on the mobile phone. This new approach from Psychoinformatics collects data from humans in everyday life. It demonstrates the fruitful collaboration between psychology and computer science, combining Big Data with psychological variables. Given the large number of variables, which can be tracked on a smartphone, the present study focuses on the traditional features of mobile phones – namely incoming and outgoing calls and SMS. We observed N = 49 participants with respect to the telephone/SMS usage via our custom developed mobile phone app for 5 weeks. Extraversion was positively associated with nearly all related telephone call variables. In particular, Extraverts directly reach out to their social network via voice calls.

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