Mark Meadows discussing The Authority Of Robots

On: November 18, 2008
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About Marijn de Vries Hoogerwerff
Marijn de Vries Hoogerwerff is a New Media theorist, Web researcher and Internet entrepreneur. In 1999 he started working as IT professional at the broadband Internet Service Provider @home (a franchise of the ISP and search engine company Excite@Home). After working here for over eight years he decided to pursue a study in New Media at the University of Amsterdam. During this study he has been an active member of the Digital Methods Initiative (DMI) research group, working together in a strong team of designers, programmers and theorists to develop new Web-specific methods and tools for doing online research and has written in depth about Internet censorship research, code consciousness and cyber-cosmopolitanism. Next to several stand-alone projects he also started up CYBERLIFE, focusing on building Web-applications, sites and tools, Web hosting and doing Web research. After receiving his Master degree in New Media he continued his contributions to the DMI, has helped organize the Society of the Query conference for the Institute of Network Cultures and has been a thesis supervisor at the University of Applied Sciences (HvA) for Interactive Media. His current company, nochii BV, focusses on utilizing theoretical knowledge and practical experience to help companies get a better understanding about the Web, their network and the space they occupy and its relation to the offline. He holds the strong believe that the Web, both as infrastructure and as concept, can aid in dealing with the increasing complexity of the world (both online as offline) and the relating problematics.

Website
http://nochii.nl    

Monday the 24th of November, Mark Meadows will be visiting the University of Amsterdam for a discussion on ‘The Authority Of Robots: How Automated Systems Are Automating Us’. The discussion will be held at the Media Studies building on the Turfdraagsterpad 9 in room 0.13 and will be moderated by Geert Lovink and Edward Shanken.

Richard Rogers, who holds the Chair in New Media & Digital Culture at the University of Amsterdam, writes in his invitation that this one-hour discussion looks into “robots” (systems that replace humans) and uncovers a strange state of affairs that is occurring, a bit like global warming. Whether ATMs, video games, chatbots, or wikipedia these automated systems influence how we behave in terms of family, friends, food, fun, and finances. They determine how we are choosing and how we are thinking and this talk take a second look at what we might initially see as “liberating.” Mark Stephen Meadows (aka Pighed) is an American artist, engineer, and author with over 15 years experience in interactive media. Founder of Echo & Shadow and HeadCase Humanufacturing he has also spent time at Xerox-PARC, Stanford Research Institute, Construct, and The Waag.  He is the author of “I, Avatar”, “Pause & Effect” and others.  A Co-inventor of four patents relating to artificial intelligence and virtual worlds, he has won awards such as the Ars Electronica Golden Nica and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum’s highest honors. He holds a USCG certified Captain’s license and migrates with his wife between Mazatlan and Paris.

It surely will be an interesting discussion and we hope to see you there on Monday.

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