Le pouvoir « divinatoire » des algorithmes

Abstract

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ECS-Ecrea Early Career Scholar Prize winner - An astrological genealogy of artificial intelligence: From ‘pseudo-sciences’ of divination to sciences of prediction

“…Has divination indeed re-emerged as a legitimate form of knowledge-making? Perhaps, as Lazaro (2018) surmises, artificial intelligence has destabilised the empirical foundations of science. So long as the predictions 'work', no explanation is necessitated for algorithmic predictions.…”

“…However, they are remarkably congruent: both are resolutely concerned with making forecasts and producing meaning about the world through processes of pattern recognition. As a ‘new tool of prediction’ for ‘decision-making, risk assessment, and governance’ (Lazaro, 2018: 127), artificial intelligence has reinvigorated public belief in the knowability of the future and in modes of speculative thinking. Such algorithmic prediction, Christophe Lazaro (2018) argues, is akin to divination or magic.…”

“…As a ‘new tool of prediction’ for ‘decision-making, risk assessment, and governance’ (Lazaro, 2018: 127), artificial intelligence has reinvigorated public belief in the knowability of the future and in modes of speculative thinking. Such algorithmic prediction, Christophe Lazaro (2018) argues, is akin to divination or magic. In fact, he asserts that ‘algorithms will take on the role of oracles in contemporary societies’.…”

“…To elaborate on Steyerl’s (2018) observation, I mobilise a theoretical framework that establishes historical and contemporary cultural denotations of both science (Bratton, 2015; Halpern, 2015; Reigeluth and Castelle, 2021; Turing, 1950) and magic (Campion, 2009; Morgan, 2013; Rutkin, 2019), as well as reflections on their intersections (Hörl, 2018; Josephson-Storm, 2018; Stengers, 2012; Stolow, 2016; Styers, 2004; Zielinski, 2006). I give particular attention to theorisations which draw lucid parallels between divinatory and algorithmic processes (Finn, 2017; Lazaro, 2018; Marenko, 2019; Natale, 2021; Pasquinelli, 2017) in order to propose an epistemological and historical continuity between astrology – a form of divination based on the positions and movements of celestial bodies – and artificial intelligence. In other words, I ask, how may the development of artificial intelligence be situated within an astrological lineage?…”

Une éthique énonciative des concepts socionumériques face à la naturalisation du numérique dans la société ?

“…Par exemple, l'usage des visualisations fait souvent l'impasse sur l'énonciation des choix de leurs règles de calcul dans une prétendue « neutralité globalisante et omnisciente » qui « | 100 | surgirait du réel grâce aux données » comme une « épiphanie » (Pignier, 2020). Du point de vue de la philosophie du droit, quel que soit le motif, le fait de ne pas comprendre un outil que l'on utilise pour prendre des décisions, s'inscrit dans une gamme de pratiques divinatoires irrationnelles (Lazaro, 2018).…”