4S (Society for the Social Study of Science) / ESOCITE | December 7–10 | Cholula, Mexico Title: “Cognitive ‘Overfitting’ and Computational-Economic Metaphors for Thought” Abstract: This paper interrogates the metaphoric use of “overfitting” in neuro- and psy- science research. I begin by defining “overfitting” as a common problem in machine…

IACAP (International Association of Computing and Philosophy) | July 22–24 | Santa Clara, CA Title: “Real Abstraction and the Epistemology of Data Capital” Abstract: This paper develops a theory of digital cognition informed by critical theorist Alfred Sohn-Rethel’s notion of “real abstraction.” I begin by considering the argument that digital…

HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth) | July 22–24 |NYC Title: “Teaching Computer Ethics in the Age of Computer Politics” Abstract: This talk draws on Dr. Stamm’s work as a professor of computer ethics. At the outset, she provides an overview of the field of computer ethics which emphasizes that the…

Dialogues in Data Power | June 22–24 | online (in-person events in Bremen, Germany; Sheffield, UK; Carleton, Canada) Title: “Data Power and the Image of Thought” Abstract: In Difference and Repetition, Gilles Deleuze writes that “the theory of thought is like painting: it needs that revolution which took art from…

This is the description for an undergraduate course on A.I.-generated art. I developed and was scheduled to teach it for the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at NYU this fall, before I took my current position at Villanova. Link to the reading list: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ACXMUNQ62Bg5EhMUsrpSBr8sgOkEBcV8sPf-TwBz3ZY/edit?usp=sharing — Scholars and artists have…

I’ve been writing a short story in my head that takes place in a mostly vacant shopping mall. The kind where theaters show $2 movies. I spent a lot of time in places like that when I was little. For me they symbolize the primary-color consciousness of early childhood. …