The Subject Project: Human Visibility, Vulnerability, and Diversity in the Data Age

FAIN: DOI-299582-24

University of Massachusetts, Lowell (Lowell, MA 01854-3629)
James Garrison (Project Director: October 2023 to present)

Research toward a book manuscript investigating how human consciousness and behavior are mediated by an increased awareness of being a source of data.

Using a combination of concepts and approaches from critical theory, data science, and data ethics, The Subject Project investigates 1) how human subjects view themselves and are conscious of being viewed by data systems and 2) how to mitigate the impact that this has, particularly on diverse populations. The Subject Project maintains that specific conditions of visibility and invisibility make each of us (but some much more so than others) vulnerable to being compelled to see what we hold to be special about ourselves projected with unsettling accuracy into the future by impersonal algorithms which have major social and political consequences.