January 2025 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

History of AI series in CACM
by thomas.haigh＠gmail.com 04 Feb '25

04 Feb '25

Hello SIGCIS, CACM recently put up the online version of the fifth and final part in my history of AI series, which has been appearing slowly over the past year and a half. These add up to a very short history of AI from 1955 to the present. 1. Conjoined Twins: Artificial Intelligence and the Invention of Computer Science," Communications of the ACM 66:6 (June, 2023):33-37. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3593007 2. "There Was No 'First AI Winter'," Communications of the ACM 66:12 (December 2023):35-39. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3625833 3. "How the AI Boom Went Bust," Communications of the ACM 67:2 (February 2024):22-26. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3634901 4. "Between the Booms: AI in Winter," Communications of the ACM 67:11 (November 2024):18-23. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3688379 5. "Artificial Intelligence Then and Now," Communications of the ACM 68:2 (February 2025). https://cacm.acm.org/opinion/artificial-intelligence-then-and-now/ A somewhat less short (circa 50K words) version of this story will be appearing as an MIT Press book with the working title Artificial Intelligence: The History of a Brand. Other than more detail, context, and human background a main difference is that each short chapter in the book features a relatively detailed case study of a classic AI-branded system. This is a short history of AI in all senses, focusing on the brand itself and the relationship of AI to the development of computer science as a discipline. Given the huge industry focused on writing about modern AI the focus is almost exclusively on AI prior to the recent boom, with a brief discussion of contemporary approaches there primarily as a contrast. In all formats, I've been making an effort to showcase a variety of interesting work that's been appearing on the topic from younger scholars over the last few years. In November I was at the IWM in Vienna as the Senior Digital Humanism fellow. While in town I also agreed to teach a compressed graduate course for the compute science students at the technical university, using a draft of the book as the core text. You can see the syllabus at https://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom/TUW If anyone is interested in trying out a newer draft of the book for teaching in the summer or fall then let me know and I'll see what I can do. Best wishes, Tom Thomas Haigh Professor & Chair, History Department, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee Chair, IEEE Computer Society History Committee Director, ACM History Committee Turing Awards Project See more at www.tomandmaria.com/Tom <http://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom>

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THIS FRIDAY @ 2PM ET: ROMchip Presents: Rachel Plotnick on "Powering Performance: Energy Drinks and the Optimized Gamer
by Laine Nooney 27 Jan '25

27 Jan '25

Join us Friday, January 31, as *ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories *hosts scholar Rachel Plotnick for her talk "Powering Performance: Energy Drinks and the Optimized Gamer." The event will be at 2PM ET on the *ROMchip *Twitch channel, https://www.twitch.tv/romchipjournal. Get tickets HERE <https://buytickets.at/romchipajournalofgamehistories/1484662> and sign up for our newsletter <https://romchip.us13.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=27c1594af9abf2dc80455091b&…> to never miss an update. **Tickets serve as calendar reminders for the event; they are not required to attend. Head to https://www.twitch.tv/romchipjournal to join the talk on Jan 31** *About the Talk* Energy drinks like *G Fuel*, *Gamer Supps*, *Amp Game Fuel*, and *Nerd Focus* promise to optimize the gamer’s body through performance-enhancement and longer-lasting play. Public health experts have long warned against these beverages’ negative health effects, but these drinks can also teach us a great deal about consumption – not just of gaming *content* but also how media stamina and endurance intersect with bathroom breaks, nourishment, tiredness, and attention. Taking an historical approach to energy drinks and the gaming culture that surrounds them, Plotnick's talk considers how long-held ideas about caffeination, hydration, sport, and fatigue – from studies of pilots to athletes drinking Gatorade – inform the present moment. As energy drinks offer a solution to burning out or tuning out, they medicalize media use to produce the ideal gamer and the never-ending game. *About the Speaker*Rachel Plotnick is an associate professor of cinema and media studies in The Media School at Indiana University Bloomington. She studies human-technology relationships and interfaces in everyday life (both historically and in the present), from pushing buttons and scrolling through touchscreens to the media hygiene provoked by sweating in VR, cleaning vinyl records, or dropping your phone in the toilet. Her first book, *Power Button: A History of Pleasure, Panic, and the Politics of Pushing*, is published by The MIT Press (2018), with a second book, *License to Spill: Where Dry Devices Meet Liquid Lives*, forthcoming in April 2025 (The MIT Press). Her research has been featured by *NPR*, the *Wall Street Journal*, the *BBC*, *IEEE Spectrum*, and others. *Upcoming Events* February 7 @ 2PM: Jesper Juul presents on his latest book, *Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodore 64 Computer *[TIX HERE <https://www.tickettailor.com/events/romchipajournalofgamehistories/1498794> ] February 14 @ 2PM: Tom Boellstorff and Braxton Soderman discuss their co-authored book, *Intellivision: How a Videogame System Battled Atari and Almost Bankrupted Barbie *[TIX HERE <https://www.tickettailor.com/events/romchipajournalofgamehistories/1498801> ] February 22 @ 11AM-11PM ET: ROMchip Twitch Fundraiser Stream, ft Phil Salvador, merritt k, qdot, Paolo Pedercini, tinahacks, Jason Scott and more! Come through for 12 hours of games, prizes, and historical hijinks. Learn more HERE <https://donate.romchip.org/>. *About ROMchip**ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories <https://www.romchip.org/>* is a free, online scholarly journal for game history. *ROMchip *develops, edits, and publishes ad-free, open access game history research for a range of audiences. It supports any discipline of work enlivening the history of games in local and global contexts, and embraces diversity in how game history is studied, documented, collected, preserved, and practiced. *ROM**c**hip* is a donation-based organization fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation <https://hackclub.com/fiscal-sponsorship/> (d.b.a. Hack Club), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 81-2908499). -- Laine Nooney <http://www.lainenooney.com/> Associate Professor | MCC <http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> @ NYU <http://www.nyu.edu/> | they/them Managing Editor | ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories <https://romchip.org/index.php/romchip-journal> | Join our Newsletter <http://eepurl.com/crCul1> -Need to make an appt? Click, don't email: https://calendar.app.google/V9ZuMRWEKnnUBdQ56 -Probably typed by voice recognition, so please cherish typos

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CfA Research Sabbaticals (Fellowships) and Working Groups at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS)
by Esther Laufer 24 Jan '25

24 Jan '25

The Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) funds innovative research on the societal opportunities and challenges of digital transformation. We support individual researchers (fellows) and collaborative projects (working groups). Fellowships: Time and Space for Focus and Inspiration A fellowship at CAIS provides the freedom to dedicate yourself entirely to your research while immersing yourself in a vibrant interdisciplinary environment. Step away from your daily work obligations to gain new perspectives and build connections. As a fellow, you can spend either six or three months in Bochum, Germany. During this time, we will cover your sabbatical leave from work through financial compensation (e.g. for a teaching substitute) or provide grants of up to 2.000 € per month. You can invite guests for collaboration and receive financial support for research expenses. Private offices and meeting rooms with modern facilities offer optimal working conditions. In addition, we will provide a fully furnished apartment free of charge. Find out more: https://www.cais-research.de/en/cais-college/fellowships/ Working Groups: Boost Your Research Collaboration A working group at CAIS allows you to bring together experts from different locations to collaborate in a stimulating environment. We provide modern meeting facilities and catering for groups of up to ten members. In addition, we will cover travel and accommodation expenses. You can spend up to three weeks in Bochum or get together for several shorter meetings. Find out more: https://www.cais-research.de/en/cais-college/working-groups/ Application The next deadline for applications is 28 February 2025. The earliest possible start date for new fellowships is April 2026. Working groups can currently apply for meetings in 2026. Please use the application forms provided on our website. The funding program is open to excellent scholars and practitioners at all career stages and from all disciplines. Both fundamental research and applied projects are welcome. Questions? Please contact esther.laufer(a)cais-research.de mailto:esther.laufer@cais-research.de.

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CFP for London symposium on AI and Creativity: Opportunity and Threat. Deadline Jan 27.
by thomas.haigh＠gmail.com 22 Jan '25

22 Jan '25

Hello SIGCIS, After meeting one of the organizers while giving a talk on AI history in Newcastle last week, I've been asked to forward the CFP for an event planned in London (UK) from 15-18 April. Title: Artificial Intelligence and Creativity: Opportunity or Threat Proposal deadline: Jan 27 (for 800 word abstract). Sponsor is the British Academy of Management. Details: https://www.bam.ac.uk/events-landing/ems-event-calendar/artificial-intellige nce-and-creativity-opportunity-or-threat.html Best wishes, Tom Thomas Haigh Professor & Chair, History Department, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee Chair, IEEE Computer Society History Committee Director, ACM History Committee Turing Awards Project See more at www.tomandmaria.com/Tom <http://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom>

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ACM History Fellowships Call for Applications (due date is February 28, 2025)
by Jeffrey Yost 22 Jan '25

22 Jan '25

Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to announce ACM History Committee's Call for Applications to the ACM History and Archiving Fellowship Program. As the name implies, it is to support history and/or archiving projects that (in whole or significant part) help to advance Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) history. The call and application procedures (due date Feb 28, 2025) can be found at the following link: ACM-HC-fellowship-CFP-2025-final <https://history.acm.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ACM-HC-fellowship-CFP-20…> Questions can either be sent to me (yostx003(a)umn.edu) I am chairing the Fellowships subcommittee, or fellowship(a)history.acm.org Best, Jeff ** * * * * ** *Jeffrey Yost, Ph.D. * *Studies in Computing and Culture book series, Johns Hopkins U. Press * Co-Editor *PI, NSF-funded CBI project "Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy."* *Blockchain & Society* <https://www.blockchainandsociety.com>* (crit. inq. essays & resources)* (Founder/Leader) *Interfaces: Essays and Reviews in Computing and Culture <https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/interfaces> *Co-Editor (w/ Amanda Wick) *Committee Member, National Academy of Engineering Extraordinary Engineering Impacts on Society* *Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry (MIT Press) <https://amzn.to/3gqe4R6>*

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Watch online: modern history of mathematics: emerging themes
by Troy Astarte 17 Jan '25

17 Jan '25

Hi all, Next week, 20th to 24th January, the Isaac Newton Institute will host a five day workshop entitled "modern history of mathematics: emerging themes". Although registration for official online participation (allowing interaction with speakers) closed awhile ago, it has recently come to our attention that anyone should be able to watch a live stream of the talks. While I realise not everyone on this list is interested in the history of mathematics, some of the talks are about computing and others may provide interesting historiographical reflections. The program can be found here: https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/mhmw01/ all live streamed talks have a video camera icon next to them. They can be watched by clicking the watch live button in the top right corner of the Institute webpages. Since this is a new experience for all of us organisers, we cannot guarantee a completely faultless technological experience! We hope that those of you unable to participate in other ways with the program will enjoy watching the live streams. Sent on behalf of the program organisers, Adrian Rice (workshop organiser) June Barrow-Green Chris Hollings Troy Astarte Best, Dr. Troy Kaighin Astarte (they/them / nhw) I often dictate messages due to motor disability; please forgive any oddities resulting. Lecturer, Computer Science / Darlithydd, Cyfrifiadureg Swansea University / Prifysgol Abertawe Editor-in-Chief / Prif Olygydd, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing For students: my drop in hours are on the Intranet<https://fse-intranet.swan.ac.uk/intranet/staff_officehours?selected_staff_i…> (office CoFo 407) I fyfyrwyr: mae fy oriau swyddfa ar y fewnrwyd. Meeting booking: via Office Booking<https://outlook.office.com/bookwithme/user/8e101a47e22e4af793d033901758d0e4…>. Zoom office: https://swanseauniversity.zoom.us/my/t.k.astarte Every email has a cost to the climate. Please think before sending short emails. Mae gan bob e-bost gost i’r hinsawdd. Meddyliwch cyn i chi anfon e-byst byr.

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DHST Early Career Scholars Workshop Series in 2025
by Liesbeth De Mol 16 Jan '25

16 Jan '25

Dear all, I am happy to announce the first DHST Early Career Scholars Workshop Series, organized by Barbara Hof and Climério da Silva Neto. The target audience of the workshop is early career scholars. The aim is to foster the worldwide integration and inclusion of early career scholars. The workshops will address topics that often fall short in university programs but are of general interest and importance. Participants are encouraged to engage in critical reflection on academic practices and the profession itself, based on input by an internationally diverse cohort of scholars. Registration is free but required. More details can be found here: https://dhstweb.org/archives/1251 with best wishes, Liesbeth De Mol

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University of Toronto Prof. of Computer Science Ron Baecker talk in Toronto & streamed 7pm E. Dec. 12th; TorCHI, SIGCHI, & CBI sponsored.
by Jeffrey Yost 01 Jan '25

01 Jan '25

Dear Colleagues, A talk of potential interest... CBI is thrilled to be co-sponsoring a talk by highly distinguished U. of Toronto CS Prof. Ron Baecker "Digital Dreams Have Become Nightmares," 6 pm C./7pm E., on Thursday, Dec. 12th, 2024, streamed from Toronto (free--reg. req.). Sponsors: TorCHI, ACM SIGCHI, & CBI. Register at link. Please note 7pm is Eastern/Toronto, 6pm here in Central Time Zone Minneapolis. Digital Dreams Have Become Nightmares: What We Must Do - a talk with Ronald Baecker <https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/events/digital-dreams-have-become-nightmares-what-w…> Best, Jeff ** * * * * ** *Jeffrey Yost, Ph.D. * *Studies in Computing and Culture book series, Johns Hopkins U. Press * Co-Editor *PI, NSF-funded CBI project "Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy."* *Blockchain & Society* <https://www.blockchainandsociety.com>* (crit. inq. essays & resources)* (Founder/Leader) *Interfaces: Essays and Reviews in Computing and Culture <https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/interfaces> *Co-Editor (w/ Amanda Wick) *Committee Member, National Academy of Engineering Extraordinary Engineering Impacts on Society* *Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry (MIT Press) <https://amzn.to/3gqe4R6>*

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