Article Citation: M. C. Elish & danah boyd (2018) Situating methods in the magic of Big Data
and AI, Communication Monographs, 85:1, 57-80, DOI: 10.1080/03637751.2017.1375130
Article Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2017.1375130
Querying the Strata of Science
STRATA OF
ACTIVITY
EXEMPLARY ANALYTIC
QUESTIONS
Your notes
meta
dominant
discourses
What discourse traditions shape the
way science is talked and thought
about—in the media, in schools, in
informal conversation? How is
science compared to and used
along with other knowledge forms?
By questioning the histories, perceptions, and practices that shape Big Data
and Artificial Intelligence, the article problematizes the myths that animate
the supposed “magic” of “Big Data and Artificial Intelligence”, which capture
the public’s imagination probably due to science fiction and is now shaping
social, economic, and political spheres.
Because of an increasingly widespread in blind faith data-driven technology
such as AI, the authors argue for “grounding machine learning-based
practices and untethering them from hype and fear cycles”
They hope to develop a rich “methodological framework” that will address
the strengths and weaknesses of data analysis
By provocatively reimagining machine learning as “computational
ethnography” the authors want to invite practitioners to “prioritize reflection
and recognize that all knowledge is situated practice”
M.C. Elish & danah boyd points out that the “sparkling, spotless, and new,
the imaginaries and connotations” of AI and Big Data promise a future that is
“scientifically perfectible” which assures a “pot of gold at the end of digitally
coded rainbow”
Furthermore, they point out that even though the purportedly neutral
collection and analysis of large quantities of data promise to “present
insights that can transcend human limitations,” we must look at Big Data and
AI as socio-technical concepts that is “the logics, techniques, and uses of
