Olga Goriunova's 'Ideal Subjects' Examines AI's Abstract People
In 2025, the University of Minnesota Press will release Olga Goriunova's book, Ideal Subjects: The Abstract People of AI. This 232-page volume, written in English and bearing ISBN 978-1517916527, is produced in the USA. Goriunova, known for her numerous public lectures and keynote addresses, synthesizes her earlier research into a structured analysis. The work explores how the digital industry and platforms generate and utilize abstract subjects alongside physical ones. She delves into intricate systems that collect and correlate data over time and space, transforming individual information into abstract concepts that unknowingly shape social and economic frameworks, challenging traditional views of subjectivity. Following a comprehensive introduction critiquing the subject's nature, three chapters investigate the emergence of digital subjects and the role of computational models, including machine learning, in creating statistically validated 'ideal subjects.' Goriunova emphasizes the need for a new approach to abstractions, referencing Stengers, and the book effectively fosters a deeper understanding of these dynamics.
Key facts
- Ideal Subjects: The Abstract People of AI is authored by Olga Goriunova.
- The book is published by University of Minnesota Press in 2025.
- It is 232 pages, in English, with ISBN 978-1517916527.
- The publication originates from the USA.
- Goriunova has delivered several public talks and keynotes on the topic, sharing and testing her research with informed audiences.
- The book examines the digital industry's and platforms' creation and use of abstract subjects in relation to physical subjects.
- It speculates on systems of sampling and associating data across time and space, originating from individuals and abstracted into groups.
- These abstractions influence social and economic infrastructures and challenge the historically established notion of subjectivity.
- A lengthy introduction critically discusses and positions the nature of the subject.
- Three subsequent chapters examine the creation of digital subjects and how computational models, including machine learning, have produced a genealogy of statistically validated 'ideal subjects.'
- Representations of the body are also abstracted associations by LLMs.
- Goriunova cites Stengers: 'We need to use our abstractions differently.'
Entities
Artists
- Olga Goriunova
- Stengers
Institutions
- University of Minnesota Press
Locations
- USA