Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Louis Ravn

Benjamin Jacobsen @bnjacobsen.bsky.social · Sep 4

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

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.bsky.social · 28d

this is the industry governments want to hand over education and other societal infrastructure

www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Meta suppressed research on child safety, employees say

The company’s lawyers intervened to shape research that might have shed light on risks in virtual reality, four current and former staffers have told Congress. Meta denies the allegations.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Louis Ravn @louravn.bsky.social · Sep 7

🙈

Louis Ravn @louravn.bsky.social · Sep 7

no way, is this in NL?

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Louis Ravn @louravn.bsky.social · Sep 5

👇

katie mackinnon @ktmac.bsky.social · Sep 5

This Sat. Sept 6 we have three very exciting #dataloss panels at #4S2025! While some of our team won't be there in person, we are all thrilled to host these critical discussions examining loss and erasure as constitutive forces in digital systems. Join us tomorrow through the links below!

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · Jul 22

“My body is breaking down. My mother is collapsing from exhaustion. My cousin cheats death every day for a morsel of aid. Gaza's children are dying in front of our eyes, and we are powerless to help them.”

www.972mag.com/hunger-gaza-...

We are starving

My body is breaking down. My mother is collapsing from exhaustion. My cousin cheats death every day for a morsel of aid.

www.972mag.com

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

Roland Meyer @bildoperationen.bsky.social · Jul 22

Weil gerade wieder davon die Rede ist, dass «Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion» ja gar keine «echte» Diversität schaffe: So schaut der faschistische Kampf gegen DEI in den USA aus. Es beginnt mit Zensur und endet in der Verfolgung von Marginalisierten bsky.app/profile/bild...

Roland Meyer @bildoperationen.bsky.social · Mar 15

Für die FAS durfte ich über die aktuellen Löschkampagnen in den USA und über die veränderte Rolle digitaler Bildarchive angesichts generativer KI schreiben – und darüber, warum Datensicherung jetzt das Gebot der Stunde ist: zeitung.faz.net/fas/feuillet...

Screenshot der digitalen FAS mit dem Artikel, Überschrift: Angriff auf die Vergangenheit

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

Roland Meyer @bildoperationen.bsky.social · Jul 5

Das Fahrlässige an Kaubes Text ist, wie er der eigenen Frage ausweicht: «Hat Thiel einen Masterplan?», fragt er zu Beginn – um mit der These zu schliessen, die «politischen Thesen und theologischen Spekulationen» Thiels seien «nur private Marotten». Doch diese «Marotten» haben politische Effekte
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Roland Meyer @bildoperationen.bsky.social · Jul 4

Entweder ist Jürgen Kaube mittlerweile entfallen, dass er 2021 in einer Jury sass, die Peter Thiel für sein «umfassendes Wirken in der Analyse der Chancen und Risiken des technologischen Fortschritts» den Frank-Schirrmacher-Preis verliehen hat, oder es erschien ihm einfach nicht erwähnenswert

Hat der Tech-Milliardär Peter Thiel einen Masterplan?

Der Tech-Milliardär Peter Thiel fällt unter den Superreichen durch seine rechtslibertäre Ideologie und seine philosophischen Lektüren auf. Viele meinen, er habe einen gefährlichen Masterplan. Aber sti...

www.faz.net

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

Sam Bennett @sj-bennett.bsky.social · Jun 30

🎉 A lovely wedding present from Big Data & Society! I bring together an ethnographic study of AI practitioners with Simone de Beauvoir’s ethics of ambiguity, exploring how ambiguity shapes AI practice and ethics
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Artificial Intelligence and the ethics of navigating ambiguity - SJ Bennett, 2025

This paper examines ambiguity within AI practice, arguing for an ethics of AI which stays with fundamental ambiguities and accounts for their complex socio-mate...

journals.sagepub.com

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

Dani Shanley @danishanley.bsky.social · Jun 12

Very excited to share this. It was an absolute joy to work with @louravn.bsky.social @velocitygravity.bsky.social and my good buddy @matthewarcher.bsky.social

Louis Ravn @louravn.bsky.social · Jun 11

🌟 New commentary “Unraveling the Regimes of Synthetic Data Metrics“ in Digital Society: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

📚 In it, @velocitygravity.bsky.social , @matthewarcher.bsky.social, @danishanley.bsky.social, and I argue that synth data metrics are linked to the politics of synth data.

🧵…

Unraveling the Regimes of Synthetic Data Metrics: Expectations, Ethics, and Politics - Digital Society

Synthetic data - artificially produced data used for various data science tasks - have become the subject of intense scholarly interest, engendering both hope and hype in fields like machine learning ...

link.springer.com

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Louis Ravn @louravn.bsky.social · Jun 11

🌞 We are hugely grateful that our commentary is part of the exciting thematic collection on “Politics of Machine Learning Evalustion“, awesomely edited by @dluitse.bsky.social, @annaschjoett.bsky.social, and Tobias Blanke. Also, we warmly thank the two anonymous reviewers!

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Louis Ravn @louravn.bsky.social · Jun 11

🌟 New commentary “Unraveling the Regimes of Synthetic Data Metrics“ in Digital Society: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

📚 In it, @velocitygravity.bsky.social , @matthewarcher.bsky.social, @danishanley.bsky.social, and I argue that synth data metrics are linked to the politics of synth data.

🧵…

Unraveling the Regimes of Synthetic Data Metrics: Expectations, Ethics, and Politics - Digital Society

Synthetic data - artificially produced data used for various data science tasks - have become the subject of intense scholarly interest, engendering both hope and hype in fields like machine learning ...

link.springer.com

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

Oliver Nachtwey @onachtwey.bsky.social · Jun 4

Das ist das neue Normal. 20 Prozent Rechtsextreme im Saal, und die Person of Colour mit dem Palästina-Pulli aus dem Parlament verbannen.

Cansın Köktürk: »Palestine«-Shirt – Linkenabgeordnete muss Plenarsaal verlassen

Bundestagspräsidentin Julia Klöckner achtet penibel auf die Einhaltung der Parlamentsetikette, auch in puncto Kleidung. Nun verwies sie die Linkenabgeordnete Cansın Köktürk des Saals. Die fällt nicht ...

www.spiegel.de

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

katie mackinnon @ktmac.bsky.social · Jun 3

headed to #RESAW25 this week ✈️
Super excited abt the program and all the cool research ! catch me in a double feature on Thurs, 7C: Data Loss panel (on GITHUB ARCTIC VAULT) also w @louravn.bsky.social @nannathylstrup.bsky.social and @esmeec.bsky.social and 8C on ROBOTS.TXT with @emae.bsky.social 🤖

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

Matthew Archer @matthewarcher.bsky.social · May 28

they gave a nobel prize to an economist who said vineyards and apple orchards in norway will offset the impacts of this.

Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) @doctorvive.bsky.social · May 28

Global average temperature is expected to rise to almost 2C above preindustrial in the next five years, according to the WMO, with falls in crop yields and more than a third of the world’s population being exposed to extreme heat.

People, I'm sorry but we have to deal with this. Later is too late.

=
FINANCIAL TIMES
Probability of above average near-surface temperature*
0 4— Less likely
Average
More likely →> 1
May to Sep period 2025-29
Nov to Mar period 2025-26 to 2029-30
Predicted temperature patterns over the years 2025-29 show a high probability of temperatures above the 1991-2020 average almost everywhere, with enhanced warming over land.

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

AI Ethics & Society @aies-edinburgh.bsky.social · May 16

🎆 Are you interested in the role of mythmaking and metaphors in contemporary and historical research and deployment of AI? Join us on 6th June, 1-2.30pm, for exciting talks by Dr Audrey Borowski and @velocitygravity.bsky.social, followed by a Q&A

🖊️ sign up:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/digital-me...

Digital Metaphors and Algorithmic Myths in the Past, Present, and Future

All welcome to our event with Audrey Borowski and Vassilis Galanos on the role of mythmaking and metaphors in contemporary digital culture!

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

Linda Huber @puellaludens.bsky.social · May 8

Interoperability capitalism you say? 👀

Rob Kitchin @robkitchin.bsky.social · May 8

The political economy of platformed silos: Theorizing data storage reconfigurations in the age of interoperability capitalism by @matthewarcher.bsky.social, Louis Ravn & @nannathylstrup.bsky.social in Big Data & Society. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

Matthias Leese @matthiasleese.bsky.social · May 9

Platforms, silos, interoperability - what's the deal with these database buzzwords?

Check out this🔥new paper by @matthewarcher.bsky.social @louravn.bsky.social and @nannathylstrup.bsky.social

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

The political economy of platformed silos: Theorizing data storage reconfigurations in the age of interoperability capitalism - Matthew Archer, Louis Ravn, Nanna Bonde Thylstrup, 2025

Interoperability has become a prominent topic in contemporary discourses around digital infrastructures in fields as diverse as security, finance, health, and c...

journals.sagepub.com

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

Rob Kitchin @robkitchin.bsky.social · May 8

The political economy of platformed silos: Theorizing data storage reconfigurations in the age of interoperability capitalism by @matthewarcher.bsky.social, Louis Ravn & @nannathylstrup.bsky.social in Big Data & Society. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

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Nanna B Thylstrup @nannathylstrup.bsky.social · May 8

✨New commentary by @matthewarcher.bsky.social, @louravn.bsky.social and myself on the politics of desiloization in what we call "interoperability capitalism"! Grateful to find a home in the 🔥special issue on interoperability ed by @ikkibop.bsky.social, Silvan Pollozekj and @janpassoth.bsky.social !

Louis Ravn @louravn.bsky.social · May 8

⚡️New commentary in BD&S ⚡️

Check out our new article on how *interoperability* strategies relate to power in platform capitalism.

Very thankful to have co-written this w/ @matthewarcher.bsky.social & @nannathylstrup.bsky.social.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

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Louis Ravn @louravn.bsky.social · May 8

⚡️New commentary in BD&S ⚡️

Check out our new article on how *interoperability* strategies relate to power in platform capitalism.

Very thankful to have co-written this w/ @matthewarcher.bsky.social & @nannathylstrup.bsky.social.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · May 5

Please enjoy!

Hype, with Dani Shanley and Gemma Milne

@danishanley.bsky.social
@gemmamilne.bsky.social

shows.acast.com/63997541ed12...

Hype, with Dani Shanley and Gemma Milne | The Data Fix with Dr. Mél Hogan

shows.acast.com

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Reposted by Louis Ravn

Anna Schjøtt @annaschjoett.bsky.social · May 5

✨The first two papers in our Topical Collection on the 'Politics of Machine Learning Evaluation' are out in Digital Society!

The collection is edited together with @dluitse.bsky.social and Tobias Blanke, with the great support of Digital Society and Federica Russo.
link.springer.com/collections/...

Politics of Machine Learning Evaluation

Is the data good enough for training purposes? Does the model perform accurately enough? Is the error rate low enough? Such questions of ‘good enough’ are at ...

link.springer.com

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Thomas Poell @tpoell.bsky.social · Apr 10

On December 17 & 18, we are organizing a conference at the University of Amsterdam on GenAI & Creative Practices. We are very much looking forward to your proposals for papers, panels, roundtables and fishbowls!! CfP: rdt.uva.nl/genai--creat... Deadline proposals: 26 May

rdt.uva.nl

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Rafael Grohmann @grohmannrafael.bsky.social · Apr 13

New article published in Big Data & Society. Latin American Critical Data Studies
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

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