Artificial intelligence and Humanities
The working groups of this axis share the interest of studying the set of technologies called “artificial intelligence” (AI, also in a very broad common sense) through the prism of human and social sciences. They address issues such as algorithmic prediction and customization, and the opportunities that comes along with it, but also the risks of manipulation and substitution to human decision making. They also try to look to what extent AI is becoming a tool that structures and informs specific domains, such as artistic and cultural creation or health.
Network politics and network regulation
This second axis deals with the issues of governance, policy and regulation of the Internet and networks. This recurring question, since the early days of the Internet, is increasingly important as the benefits and drawbacks of “multi-stakeholder” models are hotly debated, and pushes for centralization, commodification and privatization clash with models of openness, distribution, sharing and co-production. This axis explores the set of normative systems that inform the network of networks, from law to technology, from the market to informal uses and communities.
Sustainable and inclusive internet
This third and last axis brings together working groups with rather heterogeneous research topics, whose common thread is based on a shared interest for a more inclusive and sustainable Internet. From the study of power structures that contribute to reinforce existing ‘offline’ inequalities to those that allow for varied and vibrant online participation dynamics, from the consideration of gender issues to the exploration of the impacts of the digital world on the environment, and from draft projects on digital ethics or digital literacy, this axis explores the variety and plurality of the Internet and the strategies implemented to preserve and foster it.