This workshop will consider recent developments in digital culture at different scales, from the psyche and the person to nation-states and the globe. Are these changes a function of new technologies, existing corporate powers, independent user-driven communities, or larger polities? Does AI change the scale of “Big” Tech? Do developments in AI specifically reflect or transform existing divisions, especially geopolitical ones? What do we gain or lose by approaching digital communities through frames such as U.S.-China competition or global community?

An interdisciplinary group of media studies scholars, computer scientists, anthropologists, and open-source software professionals will address these questions and what, if anything, is unprecedented about the digital landscape today.

Free and open to the public. For questions or to request special services, accommodations, or assistance, please contact humanities-institute@brown.edu or (401) 863-6070.