Lecture: From welfare to tenant state? State-tech relations in an age of AI

This lecture is part of the series Digital Humanities in Times of Geopolitical Turmoil, curated and hosted by Fabian Ferrari.

From microchips to chatbots, artificial intelligence (AI) lies at the heart of today’s geopolitical tensions. Behind every AI system is a complex web of global dependencies. As trade wars unfold and nations race toward technological sovereignty, AI becomes increasingly entangled with geopolitical forces. This lecture series explores how digital humanities can help us navigate this rapidly changing landscape.

In this talk, Lina Dencik, professor in AI Justice at Goldsmiths, University of London, explores how we can make sense of state-tech relations in an age of platformisation and AI. While much has been said about data-driven governance and the technological features of platforms and AI, we still lack an adequate understanding of the wider context in which they operate and what this means for the role and transformations of the state.

Dencik engages with four central themes for such an understanding – governmentality, infrastructure, rentierism, and political regulation – in order to advance an argument about the advent of a new institutional form she refers to as a ‘tenant state’.

The tenant state, she argues, encompasses features and dependencies that pose risks to the welfare state that may be distinct from neoliberalism and privatisation that have dominated welfare discussions in the past, and may therefore require different responses.

Practical information

A Teams-link to join this online lecture will be sent to al participants prior to the event. You can sign up via the registration form at the bottom of this page. Participation is free of charge.

For whom?

This online lecture is open to all interested.

About

Lina is Professor in the Department of Media, Communication and Cultural Studies and University Research Leader in AI Justice at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is Co-Founder/Director of the Data Justice Lab and has published widely on digital media and the politics of data, with a particular focus on governance and resistance. Together with the Data Justice Lab, she has carried out extensive research into the societal implications of datafication and AI, foregrounding a concern with social justice. 

This event is organized by Utrecht University's Centre for Digital Humanities. You can register here.