And to everyone listening: the research I have presented is being carried out at the @com-ai.bsky.social research unit and at @zemki.bsky.social, @unibremen.bsky.social

I am very much looking forward to delivering my keynote today on #pioneer #communities and ‘quiet’ and ‘loud’ #futuring at the IAMCR conference ‘Creative Communication and Empowerment’ at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Welcome axel as Mercator fellow of the @com-ai.bsky.social and st @zemki.bsky.social.

Today we have the first talk in our #comai lecture series by @snurb.info on ‘the’ #public sphere, which no longer exists in that form (if it ever did).

The use of ‘the’ is just as much in question as ‘public’ and ‘sphere’.

Thanks for asking. It will be out late fall/early winter 2026.

Thank you!

But their collective #visions of what #digitalfutures might look like have spread rapidly across the globe and are accumulating in the world’s collective #imaginary as a #lab in which the #future is being shaped through digital #technologies, most recently #AI. 4/4

In the book, I trace the historical development and examine the current dynamics. Few people are familiar with many of these #pioneercommunities: #WholeEarth Network, #Maker, #QuantifiedSelf, #HacksHackers, #Ethereum, #Reboot, #ZebrasUnite. 3/4

💡 What is the book about?

I show that within the pioneer communities of #SiliconValley and beyond, a form of “quiet futuring” is taking place, which then becomes a resource for the “loud futuring” of Big Tech. And this #futuring also shapes our #everyday ideas about #digital #futures. 2/4

🙌 🙌 🙌 Done! I’ve just sent my manuscript, “Pioneer Communities: How our digital futures emerge in Silicon Valley and beyond,” to @politybooks.bsky.social , where the book is now going into production. 1/4

Call for Papers: The Imaginative Landscape of AI – Visions, Positions, Conflicts Few technological developments spark more debate today than artificial intelligence. From promises of human advancement to fears of existential risk, AI generat

‼️ The deadline (December 1, 2025) for our Call for Abstracts on “THE IMAGINATIVE #LANDSCAPE OF #AI – VISIONS, POSITIONS, CONFLICTS” is approaching.

I am very happy to edit this thematic issue of @ijoc-usc.bsky.social with @ntnsndr.in
#openaccess.

More information:

comai.space/en/call-for-...

Great thanks to @julianejarke.bsky.social and her team for inviting us!

You can find more information about us here: comai.space/en/

I am very much looking forward to exciting discussions with everyone – sharing our enthusiasm in this great research unit, discussing the possible #futures of #AI, and forging our plans for the coming year!

how socio-material #constitution and #appropriation come together 🤲 in a process of #artificialintelligence #emergence, and much more.

This will be followed by our #ComAI doctoral 👩‍🎓👨‍🎓 summer school.

I have just arrived in 🚊Graz, where we are meeting for the (late) summer ☀️retreat of our @com-ai.bsky.social

Until Wednesday, we want to discuss what #research has been carried out in the projects over the last 6️⃣ months, what the challenges of #triangulating #methods 🔣 are,

Call for Papers: The Imaginative Landscape of AI – Visions, Positions, Conflicts Few technological developments spark more debate today than artificial intelligence. From promises of human advancement to fears of existential risk, AI generat

#CfP THE IMAGINATIVE LANDSCAPE OF AI – VISIONS, POSITIONS, CONFLICTS

❓ What are the #future #visions and #imaginaries of #communications, #society, and social #change in diverse #global contexts in relation to #AI, #AGI and #ComAI?

📣 Submissions invited to #IJoC:

comai.space/en/call-for-...

Stellenausschreibung: Wissenschaftliche:r Mitarbeiter:in (w/m/d) als Teil der Forschungsgruppe „Communicative AI“ gesucht An der Universität Bremen ist am Zentrum für Medien-, Kommunikations- und Informationsforschung (ZeMKI) frühestens zum 01.01.2026 eine Stelle als Wissenschaf

‼️ #JobAlert: Computer Science / Computational Social Science / Media and Communications

At @zemki.bsky.social we are looking for a research assistant for developing web-based tools for collecting and visualising data on communicative #AI.

More information: comai.space/stellenaussc...

Curators of digital futures: The life cycle of pioneer communities - Andreas Hepp, 2024 Research typically considers corporate actors such as large tech companies or government agencies as drivers of deep mediatization, the increasing saturation of...

Hi David, Thanks a lot for your interest! A first piece is this: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... Another is with minor revisions at Communication Theory. Please send me an email and I can send you the submitted version. Best, Andreas

It is fragmented, diverse, and highly contradictory.

How strongly the Bay Area is currently preoccupied not only with questions of #AGI, but also with ideas of complete change and job losses, is demonstrated by the advertising campaigns of various corporations.

By ‘imaginative landscape of AI,’ we mean the entirety of visions, positions, and conflicts seen in relation to #AI. This is not just about the technological side but about broader ideas for the #future of communications and society with AI, as well as possible dangers for humans.

While #OpenAI has released GPT-5, our research into the ‘imaginative landscape of AI’ in #SiliconValley / the San Francisco Bay Area is progressing.

#ComAI

Expo in Osaka: Holzring statt Glaskugel Die Länder auf der Weltausstellung in Japan zeigen sehr unterschiedliche Zukunftsvisionen. Warum sollten wir überhaupt so konkret darüber nachdenken?

📣 Warum brauchen wir kleine und große #Visionen 🌈 🤖 🌳 der #Zukunft? Welche Rolle kann #KI dabei spielen?

🗞️ In der aktuellen Wochenausgabe der @taz.de habe ich dazu einen Artikel anhand des Beispiels der #Expo in #Osaka, #Japan, geschrieben:

taz.de/Expo-in-Osak...

This talk is tomorrow - on ‘The Future of Communicative AI: Why Societal Communication Matters and What This Means for Media and Communication Research’, #ComAI, #AI, #pioneercommunities, #Future: aimeetshss.acdh-ch-dev.oeaw.ac.at/conference/a...

In retrospect, this still says a lot about the imagination of technology and innovation.

Corona is now a little behind us, but it remains remarkable how members of pioneer communities such as the Maker movement were staged as ‘heroes’ during the pandemic and what fantasies existed about solving the problems of the pandemic with 'Do It Yourself'.

Solving the crisis with “do-it-yourself heroes”? The media coverage on pioneer communities, Covid-19, and technological solutionism Protective shields and medical devices produced in Makerspaces as well as the early detection of disease through self-measurement have been widely publicized in the media coverage of the Covid-19 pand...

I am very pleased that our article "Solving the crisis with 'do-it-yourself #heroes'? The media coverage on pioneer communities, #Covid-19, and technological #solutionism" is now also available in print: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

Was sich gegen die Macht großer Online-Plattformen tun lässt | MDR.DE Online-Plattformen wie Instagram sind allgegenwärtig – und ihre Macht wächst stetig. Was lässt sich dagegen tun? Ein Gegenentwurf zu den großen Plattformen sind lokale soziale Medien.

molo war auf der @re-publica.com – und fällt gleich auf!

Wie beim MDR zu lesen ist: #rp25 ist ein Gegenentwurf zu großen sozialen Medien wie #Facebook, #Tiktok oder #X. Wer uns ausprobieren will: molo.news

Der Beitrag des MDR zur #rp25 findet sich hier: www.mdr.de/nachrichten/...

#ICA25 will still take place in Denver

BREAKING:
"Given these circumstances, we have decided not to hold another ICA conference in the United States during this administration and have delayed our contract with Chicago until May 2029."
#ICA25

It was great to be able to give the presentation at Hitotsubashi University in #Tokyo. It's always great to learn more from colleagues about the different global perspectives on #SiliconValley and #pioneercommunities.