[Petit Fours #388] On frugal collaboration, models on top of models, and failed platform co-ops
Hi, everyone! Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
#1 I’m happy and proud to share that Fleeting Alliances and Frugal Collaboration in Piecework: A Video-Analysis of Food Delivery Work in India, our most recent paper on the work practice of platform-mediated food delivery, will soon be out in Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): The Journal of Collaborative Computing and Work Practices. The lead author, Riyaj Shaikh, will also present the research at the ECSCW 2024 conference in June.
#2 Speaking of ECSCW, there are some great workshops lined up. I especially recommend checking out and joining Discomfort in the making of technologies: (re-)choreographing agency, organized by Kristina Popova and others: “We invite participants to collectively explore discomfort around extractivism and surveillance in the technology design and production with the help of choreography-inspired exercises. Our goal is to build a community of similarly minded tech practitioners who are interested in responsible technology.” The deadline for short position papers is on June 1.
#3 If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t miss Models All The Way Down, by Christo Buschek & Jer Thorp. It’s probably the most useful new bit of writing (and visualization) around AI that I’ve come across this year: “There are models on top of models, and trainings sets on top of training sets.”
#4 Lessons from Failed Platform Co-ops, taking place online on May 9, looks super interesting. If only time zones made it easier to join…
-A