This talk will first examine the way in which the notion of context plays a central role in the history of the computer science and ubiquitous AI on the one hand, and in that of privacy and data protection on the other and, second, will examine the way in which this notion replays the conception of subjectivity, normativity and ethics. We will show how this evolution parallels the establishment of neoliberal – and more recently algorithmic – governmentality, and how it confronts us not only to the ethical but also to the political significance of ubiquitous AI. Our approach aims to make two contributions: a complementary proposal for the classification of AI, based on the evolving role that context plays in user’s action and ethos; and a renewed heuristic to grasp the articulation between the operationalization of AI systems and the preservation of socially constructed normativity.

Please register, we will circulate readings related to the talk:

Armen Khatchatourov is an Associate Professor of Information and Communication Sciences at the DICEN-IdF Lab, University Gustave Eiffel, Paris, France. With a dual background in engineering and the philosophy of technology, Armen has held research positions at leading institutions such as Institut Mines-Télécom and Sony Computer Science Lab Paris. His work spans digital identities, privacy, smart cities, and the societal impacts of Big Data and AI. He published Digital Identities in Tension: Between Autonomy and Control (ISTE/Wiley, 2019) and directed Corps Connectés. Figures, Fragments, Discours (Presses des Mines, 2022), and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Études Digitales.

This event is presented by The Humanities Institute’s ± AI Initiative. It is sponsored by Villa Albertine – Cultural Services of the French Embassy. The event is open to all students, faculty, staff, and members of the public consistent with University policy and state and federal law.