The invisible side of technology often hides the influence and power that the digital space exerts on the construction of our society.

To expand the physical boundaries into this digital space, the European Digital Deal project created The Digital Deal Podcast. This initiative invites artists, cultural critics, and artificial intelligence professionals to debate the relationship between new technologies, democracy, and society.

In the latest episode of the podcast, Meredith Whittaker - President of the Signal platform and professor-researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence - and designer and multidisciplinary artist Calin Segal talk about the invasion of privacy imposed by surveillance and the concentration of power in the hands of technology companies. Based on the analysis of the social, cultural, and political dynamics of modern society, the fifth episode extends the discussion to the role of art, research, and critical thinking in a reality dominated by large technology companies.

All episodes are available on the Ars Electronica website and streaming platforms (Apple Podcast, Spotify, etc.).

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Meredith Whittaker
Is Signal's President and a member of the Signal Foundation Board of Directors. She was the Minderoo Research Professor at NYU, and served as the Faculty Director of the AI Now Institute which she co-founded. Her research helped shape global AI policy and shift the public narrative on AI to better recognize the surveillance business practices and concentration of industrial resources that modern AI requires. She worked at Google for over a decade, founded Google's Open Research Group, and co-founded M-Lab. She recently completed a term as Senior Advisor on AI to the Chair at the US Federal Trade Commission.

Calin Segal
Born in Romania, he is a multidisciplinary artist and designer based in Paris. He studied at the Arts School D. Cuclin and attended the Ecole Speciale D’architecture in Paris. During his studies he specialized in robotic manufacturing and digital design, pursuing a self-guided path of research into interactive and generative art. He co-founded the In-Dialog collective and has already produced several thought-provoking projects, including “Path to Heaven”, “Planet LEV”, and the interactive pavilion “Digital Mental Transposition”. Recently, he was the winner of the S+T+Arts Vojext Residency 2023.

The European Digital Deal is a project co-funded by the Creative Europe programme.