Les algorithmes et leurs écologies

Abstract

The proliferation of statements about the power of algorithms leads to remind that they are rooted in digital and technical ecosystems. The challenge is to grasp, through material arrangements linked to conventions, norms and practices, the way in which algorithms are caught up in a multitude of interactions, both physical and social. The communication failures they can generate, the incompleteness of computational loops, and their concrete malfunctions are all opportunities to see the material infrastructure that supports and makes possible the use of algorithms. The structural holes revealed in the course of bugs, disturbances or tensions make visible all the wiring and links necessary for the algorithms to function, requiring a series of corrections, arrangements and even diversions that cannot be reduced to maintenance routines. Since digital infrastructures are themselves potentially vulnerable, a sociology of algorithms can set itself the task of exploring the critical choices made by actors when they have to take account of the dense ecology of the devices and networks that hold digital worlds together.

Keywords

• infrastructure
• algorithm
• computational loop
• vulnerabilities
• grasps