AI for Everyone? Critical Perspectives

UWP is pleased to announce that it will soon be publishing a new book exploring the role of contemporary AI and issues that need to be addressed concerning it. The volume will be edited by Pieter Verdegem of the University of Westminster. And it will be published open access in the series, Critical Digital and Social Media Studies edited by Christian Fuchs.

Description
We are entering a new era of technological determinism and solutionism in which governments and business actors are seeking data-driven change, assuming that AI is now inevitable and ubiquitous. But we have not even started asking the right questions, let alone developed an understanding of the consequences. Urgently needed is debate that asks and answers fundamental questions about power. This book brings together critical interrogations of what constitutes AI, its impact and its inequalities in order to offer an analysis of what it means for AI to deliver benefits for everyone.

The book is structured in three parts: Part 1, AI: Humans vs. Machines, presents critical perspectives on human-machine dualism. Part 2, Discourses and Myths about AI, excavates metaphors and policies to ask normative questions about what is ‘desirable’ AI and what conditions make this possible. Part 3, AI Power and Inequalities, discusses how the implementation of AI creates important challenges that urgently need to be addressed.

Bringing together scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and regional contexts, this book offers a vital intervention on one of the most hyped concepts of our times.

Contents

  1. 1. Introduction: Why We Need Critical Perspectives on AI
    Pieter Verdegem

Part 1: AI – Humans vs. Machines

2.Artificial Intelligence (AI): When Humans and Machines Might Have to Coexist 
Andreas Kaplan

3. Digital Humanism: Epistemological, Ontological and Praxiological Foundations 
Wolfgang Hofkirchner

4. An Alternative Rationalization of Creative AI by De-Familiarizing Creativity: Towards an Intelligibility of Its Own Terms 
Jenna Ng

5. Post-Humanism, Mutual Aid
Dan McQuillan

Part 2: Discourses and Myths About AI

6. The Language Labyrinth: Constructive Critique on the Terminology Used in the AI Discourse
Rainer Rehak

7. AI Ethics Needs Good Data
Angela Daly, S. Kate Devitt and Monique Mann

8. The Social Reconfiguration of Artificial Intelligence: Utility and Feasibility
James Steinhoff 

9. Creating the Technological Saviour: Discourses on AI in Europe and the Legitimation of Super Capitalism
Benedetta Brevini

10. AI Bugs and Failures: How and Why to Render AI-Algorithms More Human?  Alkim Almila Akdag Salah

Part 3: AI Power and Inequalities 

11. Primed Prediction: A Critical Examination of the Consequences of Exclusion of the Ontological Now in AI Protocol
Carrie O’Connell and Chad Van De Wiele

12. Algorithmic Logic in Digital Capitalism
Jernej A. Prodnik

13. Not Ready for Prime Time: Biometrics and Biopolitics in the (Un)Making of California’s Facial Recognition Ban
Asvatha Babu and Saif Shahin

14. Beyond Mechanical Turk: The Work of Brazilians on Global AI Platforms  Rafael Grohmann and Willian Fernandes Araújo

15. Towards Data Justice Unionism? A Labour Perspective on AI Governance  Lina Dencik

The Authors

Index 

(Paperback): 978-1-914386-16-9 (PDF): 978-1-914386-13-8 (EPUB): 978-1-914386-14-5

ISBN (Kindle): 978-914386-15-2

DOI: 10.16997/book55

New Scholarly Publications Manager Sought at UWP

New Scholarly Publications Manager Sought at UWP

After over six years (part-time and full time) Andrew Lockett is to step down as Press Manager of the University of Westminster Press during August 2021. Andrew has achieved amazing things, working closely with UWP authors, editors and other contributors since UWP began, to enable us to reach a point where we soon will have published 36 books and 7 policy briefs, operating 6 journals. While we are sorry to see Andrew leave and we will miss his knowledge and expertise – we will soon be advertising an exciting opportunity to join UWP and influence its future directions in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Westminster. Look out for the announcement of the replacement post especially those interested working across publishing functions at a digital-first new university press, publishing across a range of interdisciplinary, humanities and social sciences disciplines including media and communication studies.

Jenny Evans, Research Environment and Scholarly Communications Lead

UPDATE

Details of the post now advertised here.

Anthropocene Islands published to acclaim

Anthropocene Islands published to acclaim

A new book exploring the significance of Island Studies for the Anthropocene was published yesterday to advance acclaim, as described in a recent blog posting. As with all University of Westminster Press titles it is available open access.

Anthropocenes Islands: Entangled Worlds was written by Jonathan Pugh and David Chandler.

Acclaim for Anthropocene Islands

‘A must read … In this long-awaited book, [Pugh and Chandler] open up a new analytical agenda for the Anthropocene, coherently drawing out the power of thinking with islands.’ – Elena Burgos Martinez, Leiden University

‘This is an essential book. By thinking with islands, Pugh and Chandler articulate new ontologies and epistemologies to help us understand the relational entanglements of the Anthropocene. The four analytics they propose—Resilience, Patchworks, Correlation, and Storiation—offer both a critical agenda for island studies and compass points through which to navigate the haunting past, troubling present, and precarious future.’ – Craig Santos Perez, University of Hawai’i, Manoa

‘All academic books should be like this: hard to put down. Informative, careful, sometimes devasting, yet absolutely necessary – if you read one book about the Anthropocene let it be this. You will never think of islands in the same way again.’ –  Kimberley Peters, University of Oldenburg

‘Makes the compelling case that islands have never been merely geocultural objects of study, but rather, generative conceptual “objects” [for understanding and engaging] the wider, planetary, relational matrix within which the conditions of the Anthropocene era were created.’ – Michelle Stephens, Rutgers University

‘What if we were to start not with the great drama of the world’s falling apart, but with a myriad of smaller stories of its coming together? … a unique journey into the Anthropocene. Critical, generous and compelling’.  – Nigel Clark, Lancaster University

‘Replete with “aha!” and “huh!” moments, this book offers insights for all of us … who may not have recognised … the value of “thinking with” islands more purposively.’ – Lauren Rickards, RMIT University

‘ … a must-read … elucidates novel understandings of islands not only as patches of intensified Anthropocene proliferation, but as sites to examine the intricate relationships between life, matter, and meaning in a changing world.’ – Adam Searle, University of Cambridge

‘Anthropocene Islands establishes Pugh and Chandler as two critical and agenda-setting thinkers within island scholarship … [It] cogently argues that islands have become emblematic figures of the Anthropocene and are moreover influencing the manner in which Anthropocene thinking is developing. … a timely and essential contribution …’ – Adam Grydehøj, Editor-in-Chief, Island Studies Journal

The University of Westminster Press is the publisher of the journal Anthropocenes: Human, Inhuman, Posthuman

Anthropocene Islands – forthcoming title
A Cool Million: UWP Reach Readership Landmark

A Cool Million: UWP Reach Readership Landmark

Over 1 million views and downloads have now been achieved by the University of Westminster Press since publishing its first journal issue in September 2015. (Figures end April 2021). The graphic presenting the following (and more) can be downloaded from our website.

Total Readership: 1,089,280

Books: 560,573

Journal Articles: 528,707

Readership by Nationality (estimate, where recorded) from 197 countries and territories.

1. UK 2. USA 3. Canada 4. Germany 5. Brazil 6. China 7. Australia 8. India 9. Italy 10. Spain 

Authors of New Publications: 276 unique authors from 38 countries, recorded by institution or current domicile.

Publications total:

35 books and 7 policy briefs

192 new journal articles from 2 new titles launched and 3 existing journals new to UWP

719 archive journal articles and 5 books distributed

Most Popular Book Titles: (1) Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism (ed. J. Morelock) 68,260 views/downloads (2) The Propaganda Model Today (ed. J. Pedro-Carañana et al.) 63,353 (3) Critical Theory of Communication (C. Fuchs) 37,350.

Top Journal Titles: Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture (290,505 since 15/9/2015), Entertainment and Sports Law Journal (165,847 since 26/06/2016) and Journal of Deliberative Democracy 55,787 (since 28/08/2020).

UWP Series: ‘Critical Digital and Social Media Studies‘, 20 titles: 353,317; ‘CAMRI Policy Briefs‘, 7 titles, 44,413; ‘Law and the Senses‘ 24,102 (3 titles).

Context: UWP was established by a University steering group in 2014, hired its first part-time employee in February 2015 and published its journal issue in September 2015 and first book in October 2016. Its website went fully live on 12 May 2015. UWP has worked with platform providers Ubiquity Press and more recently for journals since 5 January 2021 Michigan Publishing/Janeway. It has functioned as a mixed model diamond open access publisher supported by income from book sales, central university and departmental contributions, one-off external university and grant-holder donations and library membership collective funding notably Knowledge Unlatched’s ‘Select’ programmes for individual titles. Many of its publications are in the area of media and communications but it has published book titles in history, philosophy, geography, education and politics. Its activities are overseen by a single UWP Editorial Board and it works within Research and Scholarly Communications, of the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office, Student and Academic Services, University of Westminster.

UWP is considered to be a ‘New University Press‘, digital-first with open access as a key principle. Its logo is a ‘W’ consisting of an open laptop and an open book.

Thanks to our editors, authors, peer reviewers, UWP editorial board members past and present, series board members and our partners Ubiquity Press (books and website) and Michigan Publishing Services and Janeway (journals) and all our colleagues at the University of Westminster for helping UWP reach this landmark.

New Jisc University Press Toolkit: Introduction – Webinar Event

We are advised by Jisc that there are still a few places remaining for this webinar event on new university presses at which UWP will be represented by their Press Manager. See here for the Toolkit.

When? Tuesday 8 June 2021, 14:00-15:30 (BST).

What follows is information from Jisc verbatim.

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-GB
X-NONE
X-NONE

In March 2021, Jisc launched a toolkit to support new and existing university
and library open access publishing ventures. The toolkit was developed with the
input from an international editorial advisory board consisting of University
Presses and other experts in the field.

This webinar will discuss the aims and objectives of the toolkit,
including a short walkthrough, followed by a panel session featuring members of
the Editorial Advisory Board.

Andrew Lockett, Press Manager, University of Westminster Press, Kate Petherbridge,
White Rose Libraries Executive Manager, White Rose University Press Lara
Speicher, Head of Publishing, UCL Press Graham Stone, Subject matter expert (OA
monographs), Jisc Alison Welsby, Editorial Director & Senior Commissioning
Editor, Liverpool University Press Sofie Wennstrom, Managing Editor, Stockholm
University Press.

The session will be Chaired by Eelco Ferwerda, Consultant, formerly of
OAPEN/DOAB.

This event will be of interest to university press staff in existing
presses, as well as library, academic and senior university staff who are
considering setting up their own press. We also hope that the toolkit is
transferable to the wider community, e.g., those wishing to set up academic-led
publishing and presses that are considering the transition to a fully open
access model.

Please visit the URL below to book for this free online event.

Digital Streaming of Entertainment Content and The Regulation of Social Media Entertainment Special Collections: Call for Papers

Digital Streaming of Entertainment Content and The Regulation of Social Media Entertainment Special Collections: Call for Papers

Special collections are planned for Digital and Social Media Entertainment topics by The Entertainment and Sports Law Journal

ESLJ is an established and internationally recognised online open access journal publishing open access with no author fees since 2002. It is currently published by the University of Westminster Press working with Michigan Publishing and the Janeway journals system.    

1.     Digital Streaming of Entertainment Content 
The Editors wish to embrace a variety of different disciplinary approaches to the broad area of Content Streaming. Suggested topics may include, but are by no means limited to:

Control over access for both established and new artists Artist perspectives
Content controversy and content control Copyright issues
Royalty Calculation and Distribution
Licensing and geo blocked content
Impact on existing market models
Delivery and environmental concerns.
Playlists and Recommendations

Authors are encouraged to submit material rooted in their own disciplinary perspective or from a cross disciplinary view.

2.     The Regulation of Social Media Entertainment 
Cunningham and Craig refer to Social Media Entertainment SME) as: ‘an emerging proto-industry fuelled by professionalizing, previously amateur content creators using new entertainment and communicative formats, including vlogging, gameplay, and do-it-yourself (DIY), to develop potentially sustainable businesses based on significant followings that can extend across multiple platforms’ (2019, 13).

Social media has developed exponentially from primarily being a source of information or a means to connect and share experiences to a vehicle to both host and consume entertainment content. Thus, Social Media has become part of the entertainment industry in its own right. This is in addition to the use of Social Media platforms such as YouTube to deliver more traditionally created content.

What are the implications of this new ‘proto-industry’ for the other parts of the industry, creators and consumers as the old regulatory structures dissipate? What is the impact on the creative artist in terms of ownership and payment? Are copyright concerns magnified in this new environment?

We consider regulation in its broadest sense to cover both control by platforms and self-censorship in addition to more traditional legal intervention. Gaps in regulation are just as significant. Pieces may cover broader themes such as the protection of minors or self-censorship that cut across different areas or more specific case studies.

Again, we encourage work from disciplines other than law especially from the creative field. We also welcome shorter pieces of work as well as full length articles.  

The Editors are proposing two special collections to be published between 1 October 2021 – March 2022. Articles to be published iteratively based on full text submission according to the ESLJ guidelines: https://www.entsportslawjournal.com/site/author-guidelines.

Our article types are:  

Research Articles: 6,000-8,000 words
Interventions: up to 4,000 words
Commentaries: up to 3,000 words
Book Reviews/Reviews: 1,000 to 2,000 words
Multimedia

If you would like to run an idea past an ESLJ editor or require any further information please contact Dr Steve Greenfield on S.Greenfield@westminster.ac.uk