Take Back the Algorithms! A Media Theory of Commonistic Affordance

This essay critiques the ‘black-boxing’ of many computational processes, which are argued to result in a kind of ‘unaffordability’ of algorithms. By engaging with current theoretical debates on ‘commoning’ – signifying a non-profit-oriented, solidarity-based approach to sharing, mainta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Media theory Vol. 3; no. 1; pp. 269 - 286
Main Author: Miyazaki, Shintaro
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Media Theory 23.08.2019
Simon Dawes, Centre d’histoire culturelle des sociétés contemporaines (CHCSC), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)
Series:Rethinking Affordance
Subjects:
Affordance
Commoning
Humanities and Social Sciences
Library and information sciences
Practice-oriented critical media studies
Viola–Jones object detection algorithm
Media
Viola-Jones object detection algorithm
Affordance
Commoning
Practice- oriented critical media studies
Media theory
ISSN:2557-826X, 2557-826X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This essay critiques the ‘black-boxing’ of many computational processes, which are argued to result in a kind of ‘unaffordability’ of algorithms. By engaging with current theoretical debates on ‘commoning’ – signifying a non-profit-oriented, solidarity-based approach to sharing, maintaining, and disseminating knowledge and experience – the essay offers a formulation of commonistic affordance in algorithmic contexts. Through the discussion of widely used computational tools such as the Viola-Jones object detection framework, radical steps towards a ‘making affordable’ of algorithms are outlined, and the widespread corporate propertisation of computation processes is contrasted with a speculative vision of algorithmic commoning.  
ISSN:2557-826X
2557-826X
DOI:10.70064/mt.v3i1.957