Olga Goriunova is a cultural theorist who works at the intersection of technology, media, philosophy, and aesthetics. Born in the Soviet Union, she is now based in the UK. Her research is transdisciplinary and engages questions of subjectivation, art and computing across different scales and modes of operation.
In this interview, we talk about her latest book, Ideal Subjects: Abstract People of AI. In it, she explores how data and artificial intelligence abstract people into new genres of “subjects,” mapping the horizon of individual and societal possibility.
The idea of “ideal subjects” can be useful for designers and user researchers, especially when trying to understand—and question—the way our online data is produced, relates back to us and models our future.
In this interview Olga helps us to question:
She is helping us to question:
- How come that these data-based abstractions are able to engage our desire and thus direct our becoming in relation to their modelled predictions?
- What kind of “subject” is created through data?
- How does a data-based representation attempt to match a human being?
