PhD Student, Yale University
Contributor, Platypus, The CASTAC Blog
Research Interests
AI | Algorithms | Ethics | Finance | Media Anthropology | Robotics | Science & Technology Studies |
About Spencer
I’m a PhD student in the Yale Department of Anthropology, where I study technology and culture in North America and Europe. I research how the development of emerging technologies enact culturally specific beliefs about what it means to be human and what it means to be a better human. I now study how San Francisco's AI researchers and developers figure human values computationally in their "responsible AI" projects.
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Contributions to Platypus, The CASTAC Blog
View all of Spencer's posts on Platypus, The CASTAC Blog.
Tokens, Voids, and Archives: Locating Berlin’s NFT Projects
I’m standing on the train platform of U Schloßstraße, an U-Bahn station in Berlin’s Steglitz neighborhood. In front of me is an artwork: a beauty advertisement depicting a smiling woman. The model’s image has been altered with chemical solvents, giving her skin a brushwork-like texture and her complexion a ghostly paleness. I observe the dark, graffitied station around me. The arrivals board says the time is 5:20, but I’m unsure whether it’s early morning or evening. Commuters are wearing winter jackets and KN95 masks. Some read books as they wait for the train. Four young men play a game of tag. I hear the hum of an incoming U9 train and watch its arrival soon after. The doors open and the announcement blasts: Zurückbleiben bitte. Passengers leave the yellow train cars before new ones enter. After a beep, the doors close and the train hums away. The platform empties, leaving (read more...)