Machine Listening in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

FAIN: DOC-299565-24

New York University (New York, NY 10012-1019)
Edward (Byungkwon) Kang (Project Director: October 2023 to present)
Juana Becerra Sandoval (Co Project Director: March 2024 to present)

Planning and conducting interdisciplinary case studies and a public-facing speaker series examining the historical, social, economic, political, and epistemic impact of machine listening systems in preparation of a special issue in an academic journal and conference tutorial session.    

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that mobilize sound – i.e., machine listening systems – are being implemented in high-stakes contexts spanning healthcare, human resources, and security. Few scholarly works have investigated their broader impact on society, and public awareness of how these systems affect people’s everyday lives is limited. This project will bring together a multidisciplinary and international group of scholars to advance research on the dangers and opportunities of machine listening from a humanistic perspective. Through working group meetings and a speaker series, the project will explore how the epistemic question of “listening” is shifting with the rise of AI, how machines learn to listen, and how machine listening systems are impacting or could impact society in the near future. The outcomes will include a special issue on machine listening systems (the first of its kind), a conference tutorial session, a piece in The Atlantic, and a white paper for NEH.