Iliana Depounti 🤖💬

Excited to share that I will be presenting the second article of my PhD thesis on the female users of Replika at the symposium on May 21st. I am honored to be part of this event, which will feature a keynote by Professor Angela McRobbie. For event details see below 👇

#OutNow in #iCS This article explores how people domesticate genAI chatbots in daily life. Interviews with women Replika users show how chores, shopping and casual talk sit alongside imaginaries of consciousness and emotional attachment. doi.org/10.1080/136911…

Edited by Iliana Depounti and Simone Natale - special issue Decoding Artificial Sociality: Technologies, Dynamics, Implications is now published in New Media & Society. journals.sagepub.com/toc/nmsa/27/10

⏳ Almost sold out! Just a handful of tickets remain for Reactionary politics, women, and feminist critique. 21st & 22nd of May Keynote by Professor Angela McRobbie (Goldsmiths) Secure your spot before it’s too late shorturl.at/cLdHb

For something to be open source, we need to see 1. Data it was trained & evaluated on 2. Code 3. Model architecture 4. Model weights. DeepSeek only gives 3, 4. And I'll see the day that anyone gives us #1 without being forced to do so, because all of them are stealing data.

📢Call for abstracts 'Automating Democracy:#AI Use Between #SocialJustice &Social Control" has been extended to Jan 31st! ✨You have 2 additional weeks to share you research on #AI, #governance and #citizenparticipation Join us in Rotterdam on May 22/23! automatingdemocracy.wordpress.com

Why examine charity shop encounters? by Ann Weatherall #CAday2024 'Charity shops are essential for charities to deliver life-changing work and care. If we understand these encounters we might understand and enhance the positive social value of the sector. '

We are excited to announce the theme of the 2025 @lboroCRCC symposium. 'Reactionary politics, women, and popular culture’ The keynote will be delivered by Professor Angela McRobbie, the pre-eminent scholar of gender and feminism. More information: shorturl.at/NqAy6

Perfect frosty day @lborouniversity getting ready for our highly anticipated roundtable with @juliasonnevend and @lboroCRCC scholars @VStetka and @SMihelj- the authors will present their new books on political charm and illiberalism. ✨Join us from 15.00 shorturl.at/LdVCr

The books offer complementary perspectives on the growing appeal of alternatives to democracy. Štetka and Mihelj investigate how cultural values & state institutions are reshaped to constitute an illiberal public sphere, Sonnevend focuses on the personification of global politics

I will be at #AOIR2024 with my paper on the experiences of the female @replika users and their male bots. Think less spicy🌶️ and more of a female gaze type of interaction. 50 Shades of Grey⛓️ meets emotional support bot 🩷🤖 Come say hi 👋 Thurs 31st 3.30pm-5pm Inox Suite 2

@ludludlud ooh fun, I'll come and meet you guys!

hey #AoIR2024 come say hi IRL 👋

We're hosting a roundtable to unpack the US election results from geopolitics to reproductive rights. 📅Wednesday, November 13th. 🕐4-5pm 📍in-person U005 @lborouniversity campus Participants: Victoria Browne, Rhianna Garrett, Yuval Katz, Tim Oliver and Sam Edwards Join us✨

Remember to register for 'The Charm of illiberalism? Media and the rising alternatives to democracy' 📅Nov 20th 3-5pm Speakers: @juliasonnevend from @TheNewSchool and @lboroCRCC scholars @SMihelj & @VStetka will be presenting their brand new books. shorturl.at/O0mUd

@ArneMaibaum @WIRED @willknight @dippy_ai thank you Arne, hope you are well 🙂

I've been reading @WIRED since I was an undergrad, and today, I was featured in @willknight's newsletter AI Lab 🥹 We talked about @dippy_ai an AI companion full of thirst traps and sexy/toxic male AI characters

Dippy, a startup that offers “uncensored” AI companions, lets you peer into their thought process—sometimes revealing hidden motives. wired.trib.al/HslpRLm

I've been reading @WIRED since I was an undergrad, and today, I was featured in @willknight's newsletter AI Lab 🥹 We talked about @dippy_ai an AI companion full of thirst traps and sexy/toxic male AI characters link.wired.com/public/37098803

On Monday October 14, members of the RecareTV team will present early research findings at this online talk hosted by the University of Otago. Everyone is welcome to join - scan the QR code below for the Zoom link ⏰10am NZ time and 10pm UK time⏰