Dr Vassilis Galanos

[updated 27/06/2024]

Background

I am Lecturer in Digital Work at the University of Stirling’s Management School, focusing on the intersection of labour with emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI) and adjacent networked and automated applications in the workplace. I am interested in the role of expertise and expectations in shaping digital working patterns, trade union interest in emerging technologies, and the role of power and conceptualisation in the visibility (or less visibility) of work that sustains and maintains contemporary digital technology.

As a qualitative social scientist with background in information science, I am developing a long-term research agenda on the broader sociology of AI, with focus on the interplay of expertise (who is entitled to speak about digital technologies?) and expectations (how do future visions and imaginaries shape current discourses on digital technologies in research, policy, and their public understanding?). My PhD thesis, consisted of a historical sociology of the dynamics between AI terminology negotiations, AI promising, AI funding strategies, and AI policy from the perspective of AI technical research cultures. The final version is available online under Creative Commons license, and I am always happy to discuss any topic related directly or tangentially to the historical sociology of AI. Combining my teaching experience with my earlier doctoral interests, I am currently also investigating the intersection between AI technologies (new and old) and the sociology of education from student- and educator-oriented point of views in order to propose novel educational governance frameworks.

My other academic interests include, but are not limited to, cybernetics, (digital) media theory, media archeology, information science and librarianship (that my first degree was on), continental and oriental philosophy (sometimes identifying as a Deleuzian, other times as a Heideggerian), invented/parody religions, sexbots, and the ethics of digital sampling in music (I am also a music nerd/collector, looking for opportunities to write about the digital/analogue interfaces in music). With a number of good colleagues and friends, we run the Scotland-based AI Ethics & Society research group, having organised over 55 events, annual doctoral colloquia, conferences and symposia: https://www.ai-ethics.org/

I am a proud first-generation academic (first person in my family with education beyond high-school), coming from lower economic status. I collect books, comic books, vinyl records, and beautiful beer cans. I miss backpacking and the good days of CouchSurfing. I abstain from meat and pronouns (but if you want to use one, anything will suffice, such as it/they/she/ve/zhe/he).

The following information is directly copied from my current CV and serves as the most comprehensive collection of links to my published works, including details about qualifications and achievements that cannot be shared elsewhere in the website.

Qualifications

2017-2022 PhD in Science, Technology, and Innovation Studies, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh. Supervised by Prof Gill Haddow and Prof Robin Williams. Thesis title: “Expectations and Expertise in Artificial Intelligence: Specialist Views and Historical Perspectives on Conceptualisation, Promises, Funding, and Policy.” https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/40420/Galanos2023.pdf

April 2020: Exploring Japanese Avant-Garde Art Through Butoh Dance. Online course at Keio University, Tokyo. https://www.futurelearn.com/certificates/bl33z5w

October 2018-January 2019 ESRC Business Booster "Working with Business" Training Programme in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen, funded by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science.

2016-2017 MSc by Research in Science, Technology, and Innovation Studies in the School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh. Supervised by Dr Catherine Heeney. MScRes thesis title: “Negative Portrayals of Artificial Intelligence and Robots in Online Press: An STS Critical Approach to the Singularity Argument.” Courses taken: Research Skills in Social Sciences: Data Collection, Core Quantitative Analysis I+II, Science, Knowledge and Expertise.

2012-2014 MSc in Information Science and Cultural Communications. Royal School of Library and Information Science, University of Copenhagen. Master thesis: “Information Revolution: Postlude to a Past Future.” Supervised by Dr. Jens-Erik Mai, available at http://pure.iva.dk/files/36536021/Galanos_V_Beyond_Information_Revolution_Master_Thesis.pdf Courses taken: Information Ethics, Systems-User Evaluation, Digital Memory, Knowledge Management, Urban Culture, Information Retrieval and Interaction, Information and Cultural Studies: Theories and Traditions

2005-2010 BSc Librarianship and Information Systems. Department of Library Science and Information Systems, School of Administration and Economy, Alexander Technological Education Institution of Thessaloniki. Bachelor thesis: "The Impact of Information on Cultural Product." Supervised by Dr. Stella Korobilli.

Career breaks: Military service (obligatory, absolutely not voluntary) fulfilled (2011-2), employed under various non-academic posts during the Greek economic crisis to support family (2010, 2014-6).

Awards and funding

2024 Edinburgh Artificial Intelligence & Computer Science History Project. £9020 awarded to Prof Chris Williams and Dr Vassilis Galanos by the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh.

2022 Nominated twice for the Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA)’s Teaching Awards.

2019 Sue Grant Award (University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Sciences)

2013 Den Sociale Pris (University of Copenhagen, Royal School of Library and Information Science) https://uniavisen.dk/en/voted-most-social-among-information-science-students/

Teaching experience

2024: Teaching Fellow - Technology Futures. Responsible for the Edinburgh Futures Institute course Building Near Futures, co-convened with Prof Drew Hemment and Dr Matjaz Vidmar.

2022-2023: Teaching Fellow responsible for the PG course Internet, Society & Economy and UG course Technology in Society, responsible for course organising, lecturing, administrating, and marking. Co-convening PG course Understanding Technology, and UG courses Internet and Society, and Data, Design, and the City.

Supervision experience: Supervised 7 MSc students in Science, Technology and Innovation Studies and 1 BSc in Anthropology and Sociology of Medicine. Co-advising a Ukrainian PhD student as part of the Academics Beyond Borders programme. Offered lots of voluntary hours of consultation to students whose supervisors’ expertise was limited in terms of the digital/social realm.

2021-2022: Tutor (Teaching Assistant) in the UG courses Technology in Society and Science, Nature & Environment. Marker for the PG course Understanding Technology. 2020-2021: Tutor in the undergraduate Honours course Internet & Society, and the postgraduate course Internet, Society, and Economy while assisting with Gender and Environment as a marker. 2017-2020: Tutor in the undergraduate course Technology in Society with emphasis on student-centred learning.

Research experience

November 2023-May 2024: Post-Doctoral Research Assistant in Bridging Respsonsible Artificial Intelligence Divides (BRAID UK) on a risk-based review of generative AI and journalism and the mapping of policy implications. This post was part of a project working with the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) within the AHRC-funded Bridging Responsible AI Divides (BRAID) programme. Main responsibilities: Arranging and conducting social science interviews/focus groups, analysing and reporting on data captured, conducting an interdisciplinary literature review, designing and deploying survey, project management.

June 2022-November 2022: Post-Doctoral Research Assistant in The New Real. Conducting research on the profound ways in which the digital turn is reshaping society in today's algorithmic culture, with a focus on the arts and creative industries. Main responsibilities: 1. Lead literature review on “Characterising the New Real” and support conceptual framework development. 2. Co-analyse collected data and frame findings, discussions and conclusions across the Resilience in the New Real project, with particular focus on horizon scanning activities. 3. Lead the production of one journal article and support the drafting of other journal outputs, briefing notes, knowledge dissemination workshops and the final project report. 4. Support the development of actionable and tailored guidelines, recommendations, methods and tools as open access resources for festivals and other creative organisations to deliver trusted, delightful online/hybrid experiences to drive recovery and build resilience. 5. Support the development of a draft roadmap to enable and support a reset and positive future for the festivals and creative sector. 6. Support the delivery and evaluation activities (exhibitions, events, etc) and research findings dissemination (workshops, presentations, etc). This included a prestigious exhibition at Ars Electronica. https://www.newreal.cc/

February-November 2022: Research Fellow Data Driven Civics (Civic Observatory strand). Contribution to the “Civic observatory” strand of the project, playing a key role in developing, sustaining and working collaboratively with the research team and a range of co-operation partners to deliver the project’s aims. The work was conducted in partnership with community organisations in the Granton area in Edinburgh, and feed into both ESRC and University of Edinburgh strategy for place-based research. Main responsibilities: Designing the integration of the two main strands of research – Granton Inclusion Lab and the Civic Observatory; Design and conduct interviews and meetings with partners and stakeholders to gather data from partners to find out more about their roles in the Granton development and the challenges they face; Contribute to research to collate, analyse and integrate data from social media analyses with other sources; Support the production of interim and final reports; develop legacy plans to support continuation of the project including follow-on funding plans. In addition to these main responsibilities, I employed photographic and social media skills for the dissemination of findings and the design of interim report. https://www-staging.efi.cahss.ed.ac.uk/activity-and-partners/data-civics/ I have been in continuous partnership with the Data Civics project and a more recent video presentation of our work can be found here: https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/Week42/1_xc3riu2m

Publications

[Feel free to contact me if you require copies of any paper]

Book

January 2025 (in preparation): Galanos, V. & Stewart, J. (2024). Internet, AI and Society: A textbook for the perplexed. Wiley Blackwell Inc.

Peer Reviewed Journal Publications

Galanos, V. & Xi, I. (2024, forthcoming). Facing GAIa: Tale of Three ChatGPToxicities. Deleuze and Guattari Studies. 22/12/2023: Galanos, V. (2023). _understandeconstructing data: lessons from jAIna onto-epistemology. On Education. Journal for Research and Debate, 6(18). https://doi.org/10.17899/on_ed.2023.18.5

04/09/2023: Baumgartner, R., Arora, P., Bath, C., Burljaev, D., Ciereszko, K., Custers, B., Galanos, V. ... & Williams, R. (2023, in press). Fair and equitable AI in biomedical research and healthcare: Social science perspectives. Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 102658. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0933365723001720

02/12/2021: Oda, Takaharu & Galanos, Vassilis. “Dialogues concerning Dreams and Demonstration: Lessons from Jaina Perspectives”. oxford public philosophy 2. [Open Access] Available at: https://www.oxfordpublicphilosophy.com/south-asian/jaina-perspectives

08/06/2020: Tekken’s Mokujin and the Disjunctive Synthesis of Gender Performativity. Press Start 6(1). [Open Access] Available at: https://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php?journal=press-start&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=130 (I am honoured that this work has been cited in the British Council’s Gender equality in English language teaching practice: A resource book for teacher education, edited by Vander Viana and Aisling O’Boyle)

27/08/2019: Dwivedi, Y. K., Hughes, L., Ismagilova, E., Aarts, G., Coombs, C., Crick, T., ... & Galanos, V. (2019). "Artificial Intelligence (AI): Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Emerging Challenges, Opportunities, and Agenda for Research, Practice and Policy." International Journal of Information Management. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026840121930917X

06/09/2018: “Exploring Expanding Expertise: Artificial Intelligence as an Existential Threat and the Role of Prestigious Commentators.” Technology Analysis and Strategic Management 31(4), pp 421-432. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09537325.2018.1518521

01/11/2017: “Singularitarianism and Schizophrenia.” AI & Society 32(4), pp 573–590, Springer-Verlag London. Available at: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00146-016-0679-y Peer Reviewed Book Chapters and Proceedings Publications Galanos, V., & Stewart, J. K. (2014). Navigating AI beyond hypes, horrors and hopes: historical and contemporary perspectives. In: Aida Ponce Del Castillo (ed). Artificial intelligence, Labour and Society, Brussels: The European Trade Union Institute, 27-46. https://www.etui.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/Artificial%20intelligence%2C%20labour%20and%20society_2024.pdf

Galanos, V. (2023). Socio-Temporal Paradoxes between Screens and Spans: Average Duration of Moving Visual Works, Technical Limitations, and Social Demands from Outdoor Theatre to TikTok. In: Kacmaz Erk, G. (Ed). AMPS PROCEEDINGS SERIES 32: Representing Pasts – Visioning Futures. London, UK: AMPS. pp. 366-373. Available at: https://amps-research.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Amps-Proceedings-Series-32.pdf

Dominguez, A. H., & Galanos, V. (2022). A Toolkit of Dilemmas: Beyond debiasing and fairness formulas for responsible AI/ML. In IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society 2022. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=10227133

2023: Between Monstrous Dystopias and Policy Utopias in Artificial Intelligence: Reporting on a ten-year journey into the AI-topia. In: Dystopian Worlds beyond Storytelling Conference proceedings. Ibidem-Verlag

2022: “Nomadic Artificial Intelligence and Royal Research Councils: Curiosity-Driven Research Against Imperatives Implying Imperialism” In Maurizio Tinnirello and Roman V. Yampolskiy (eds.) The Global Politics of Artificial Intelligence. Chapman & Hall/CRC AI and Robotics Series, Taylor & Francis. https://www.routledge.com/The-Global-Politics-of-Artificial-Intelligence/Tinnirello/p/book/9781138314573

2021: “Lafcadio Hearn and his Evolutionary Eco-Ethics in the 21st Century: Travelling through the Uncanny Valley of Exoticism in Robotic and Ghostly Japan.” Culture - Journal of Culture in Tourism, Αrt and Education 3. Available at: https://journalculture.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/5/3/135316421/cultureleykopt_4.pdf

2020: Galanos, V. and Reisel, M. “Assessing the Japanese Turn in AI and Robot Ethics: Extracting Meaningful Principles Between Exoticism and Empiricism in the Case of AIBO”. In IFIP International Conference on Human Choice and Computers HCC 2020: Human-Centric Computing in a Data-Driven Society pp 141-157. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-62803-1_12

04/08/2020: "Towards a Chronological Cartography of the Uncanny Valley and its Uncanny Coincidences" In Pippa Goldschmidt, Gill Haddow, and Fadhila Mazanderani (eds.) Uncanny Bodies. Edinburgh: Luna Press Publishing - Academia Lunace. https://www.lunapresspublishing.com/product-page/uncanny-bodies

16/12/2019: "Teratological Aspects in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics: From Monstrous Threats to Rorschach Opportunities" In Diego Compagna and Stefanie Steinhart (eds.) Monsters, Monstrosities, and the Monstrous in Culture and Society. Delaware and Malaga: Vernon Press. https://vernonpress.com/book/590

13/04/2019: "Blended Automation: The Language-Game of Psychoanalytic Automatism and Cybernetic Automata" In Jordi Vallverdú and Vincent C. Müller (eds) Blended Cognition: The Robotic Challenge, Springer Series in Cognitive and Neural Systems book series (SSCNS, volume 12), Springer, Cham. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-03104-6_4

26/08/2018: “Artificial Intelligence does not Exist: Lessons from Shared Cognition and the Opposition to the Nature/Nurture Divide.” Proceedings of HCC13: This Changes Everything panel in IFIP TC9 Human Choice and Computers Conference, part of the 24th IFIP World Computer Congress: Information Processing in an Increasingly Connected World: Opportunities and Threats in Poznań, Poland. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-99605-9_27

25-27/01/2017: “The Double Meaning of ‘Replacement’ and the Moral Value of Human and Nonhuman Inforgs: Crossroads of Philosophy of Information and Actor-Network Theory” Improving Quality of Life Through Information: Proceedings of the XXV Bobcatsss Symposium, Tampere, Finland, January 2017. Available at: http://tampub.uta.fi/handle/10024/101894 Thessaloniki 02-07/07/2014: IACAP 2014 “Floridi/Flusser: Parallel Lives in Hyper/Post-History”. Chapter in: Müller, Vincent C. (ed.) (2016) “Computing and Philosophy”. Heidelberg: Springer (Synthese Library). Available at: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-23291-1_15

24/01/2015: 6th Conference of the Philosophein: Episteme, Evnoia, Parrhesia journal: “Aristotle: Human, Science, Metaphysics” “Post-Aristotelian Proposals in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Becoming-Slave and Becoming-Free when Psyche isn't the Primary Value” (in Greek) In: Vavouras, I. (ed.) (2016) Philosophein: Episteme, Evnoia, Parrhesia v. 13. Available at: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21ANU5RB9FLunDOqk&cid=D60DF1AF710FC282&id=D60DF1AF710FC282%21529&parId=D60DF1AF710FC282%21526&o=OneUp

29-31/01/2013 Bobcatsss 2014 Library (R)evolution: Promoting Sustainable Information Practices. “The Librarian's Equilibrium: Cycles and Epicycles, Centers and Epicenters of Information Revolution”. Available at http://proceedings.bobcatsss2014.hb.se/article/view/284/402

23-24/01/2013 Bobcatsss 2013: From Collections to Connections: Turning Libraries “InsideOut” “Dialectic Relations of Nomadism and Idiotism in the Post-Modern Global Village: The New Form of 'City' in the Internet Space” Available at: http://www.bby.hacettepe.edu.tr/akademik/zehrataskin/file/bobcatsss(1).pdf#page=143

Science Communication

19/02/2024: ‘Are two more-than-halves spurious? Sociopolitical underpinnings behind adoption rates of Generative AI in casualised Higher Education: An actionable critique’. Contribution to the University of Edinburgh’s Teaching Matters blog. https://www.teaching-matters-blog.ed.ac.uk/are-two-more-than-halves-spurious-sociopolitical-underpinnings-behind-adoption-rates-of-generative-ai-in-casualised-higher-education-an-actionable-critique/

11/02/2024: Contribution to the World of Religion and Spirituality Project online encyclopedia with an entry about the Church of the SubGenius. https://wrldrels.org/2024/02/11/church-of-the-subgenius/

02/01/2024: Consulted by Kiril Krasilnikov for the piece ‘Lack of Political Consensus, Slow Policymaking Could Hamper Development of AI Regulation’ featured on Sputnik Afrique. https://en.sputniknews.africa/20240102/lack-of-political-consensus-slow-policymaking-could-hamper-development-of-ai-regulation-1064423240.html

12/10/2023: With SJ Bennett, Ruth Aylett, and Drew Hemment. AI Myths Debunked: Unpacking Six Common Misconceptions. AI “explainer” for The New Real Magazine’s Edition One. https://www.newreal.cc/magazine/explainer-ai-myths-debunked-unpacking-five-common-misconceptions

14/09/2023: Interviewed by Stephen Phelan and Edd McCracken for Edinburgh Impact for the press release “AI’s Moment of Truth” with additional social media/video coverage on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook/Meta. https://www.ed.ac.uk/impact/research/digital-life/ai-s-moment-of-truth https://www.linkedin.com/posts/university-of-edinburgh_ai-and-the-truth-activity-7108094967083847681-oLQc https://www.facebook.com/UniversityOfEdinburgh/posts/pfbid0wPvsLRwVxuSW3U4q6Tw3U5FGfswK9S9VGQftDW83g8QZfcFccrXtnsvX4ZVxQspjl https://www.instagram.com/p/CxLT9yxIGY1/ https://twitter.com/EdinburghUni/status/1702329149409702301

11/09/2023: Podcast recording by the University of Edinburgh’s Teaching Matters blog about Generative AI in education in collaboration with Irene Xi, Lara Dal Molin, and James Stewart in four parts. Full list: https://www.teaching-matters-blog.ed.ac.uk/tag/podcast-generative-ai/ Part 1 https://www.teaching-matters-blog.ed.ac.uk/podcast-generative-ai-past-present-and-future-episode-119-mins/ Part 2 https://www.teaching-matters-blog.ed.ac.uk/podcast-a-students-perspective-on-generative-ai-usage-episode-2-17-mins-2/ Part 3 https://www.teaching-matters-blog.ed.ac.uk/episode-3-18-mins/ Part 4 https://www.teaching-matters-blog.ed.ac.uk/gen-ai-podcast-episode-4/

29/05/2023: Invitation to present contents of the post below at the University of Edinburgh’s Learning Technology Community’s monthly events.

18/04/2023: ‘ChatGPTeaching or ChatGPCheating? Arguments from a semester with large language models in class’ - contribution to University of Edinburgh’s Teaching Matters blog. In two parts: https://www.teaching-matters-blog.ed.ac.uk/chatgpteaching-or-chatgpcheating-arguments-from-a-semester-with-large-language-models-in-class-part-1/ https://www.teaching-matters-blog.ed.ac.uk/chatgpteaching-or-chatgpcheating-arguments-from-a-semester-with-large-language-models-in-class-part-2-2/ (This blog has received sufficient attention by the international education community).

18/04/2023: Consulted by Pakistan Point/Sputnik for the press release ‘Need For Human Labor To Persist Even After Widespread Adoption Of AI - Experts,’ authored by Sehar Sial. https://www.pakistanpoint.com/en/story/1678697/need-for-human-labor-to-persist-even-after-widespread-a.html

30/01/2023: Among the two participants of a “prompt battle” aiming at explaining the processes and limitations of text-to-image Generative AI software Midjourney and DALL-E, as part of the Love Machine: Spring 2023 Events Launch by the Edinburgh Futures Institute. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/love-machine-spring-2023-event-launch-tickets-492706778237

10/01/2023: Consulted by the WIRED for the press release ‘Metaverse Landlords Are Creating a New Class System: Virtual landowners have found a way to put their investments to work, but with unintended consequences,’ authored by Joel Khalili. https://www.wired.com/story/landlords-rentals-decentraland-metaverse/

06/11/2020: Galanos, V., Bennet, S., Aylett, R. and Hemment, D. AI Myths Debunked: Unpacking Five Common Misconceptions. Contribution to The New Real project, supported by the Experiential AI research group at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. Available at: https://newreal.cc/magazine-database/ai-myths-debunked-unpacking-five-common-misconceptions

Book reviews

03/01/2021: Thomas Tsakalakis: Political Correctness - a Sociocultural Black Hole, (Routledge) 2021. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice volume 24, 399–401. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10677-020-10151-7

25/06/2023: A variation of the above can be found in Greek as an invited article with the historical newspaper Avgi. https://www.avgi.gr/parembaseis/452447_thomas-tsakalakis-political-correctness-sociocultural-black-hole-routledge2021

Translations

2023 (Forthcoming): Friedrich Kittler. Οπτικά Μέσα. [Optische Medien (Optical Media)]. Athens: Smili Publications. 2023 (Forthcoming): Vilém Flusser. Μετα-Ιστορία [Pos-Istoria (Post-History)]. Athens: Smili Publications.

Self-published

“Towards Human-Robot Ethnography: Two Short Lessons from iCub's Absence and Connectivity.” Self-published paper, originally an essay written for the needs of a course in Ethnography. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/33445977/Towards_Human-Robot_Ethnography_Two_Short_Lessons_from_iCubs_Absence_and_Connectivity

“Digital sampling in contemporary music: Ethical issues and dilemmas of 'loop digging.'” Self-published paper, originally an essay written for the needs of a course in Information Ethics. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/11337563/Digital_sampling_in_contemporary_music_Ethical_issues_and_dilemmas_of_loop_digging_ Reviewed at: https://sampleface.co.uk/ethical-issues-dilemmas-loop-digging/

Presentations at Academic Conferences/Symposia, Invited Talks, Panel Contributions

08/05/2024: ‘ChatGPTeaching or ChatGPCheating: Reflections after a year with Generative AI in the not-so-automated social science classroom.’ Presentation at the British Sociological Association Presidential Event 'Teaching Sociology in Higher Education: Pedagogical Practices & Possibilities,' https://www.britsoc.co.uk/events/key-bsa-events/teaching-sociology-in-higher-education-pedagogical-practices-possibilities/

03-05/04/2024: Invited panelist at the British Sociological Association’s (BSA) Virtual Annual Conference 2024: Crisis, Continuity and Change. Panelists: Jenny Davis, Vassilis Galanos, Susan Halford, Dan McQuillan and Lucy Suchman. https://www.britsoc.co.uk/events/key-bsa-events/bsa-virtual-annual-conference-2024/

13/03/2024: ‘From AI Grotesque to GAI Kitsch: Choreographies of Content Moderation and Political Correctness.’ Guest lecture at the NYU Shanghai-based course Synthetic Media.

22/02/2024: Invited lightning talk at the ‘Staff-Student workshop on Generative AI and the University’ hosted by the Edinburgh Futures Institute. Theme: ‘Are two more-than-halves spurious? Sociopolitical underpinnings behind adoption rates of Generative AI in casualised Higher Education: An actionable critique’. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/staff-student-workshop-on-generative-ai-and-the-university-tickets-818315733387 https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/Staff-+Student+WorkshopA+Generative+AI+and+the+University+-+24-02-22/1_t4865s9d

11/02/2024: Guest lecturer at the course Controversies in the Data Society, University of Edinburgh. Theme: 'The Social Construction of AI as Existential Risk: Stories of Expectations and Expertise'. https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/Dr+Vassilis+Galanos%2C++%27The+Social+Construction+of+AI+as+Existential+RiskA+Stories+of+Expectations+and+Expertise%27/1_wbha3gcg/48781431

17/01/2024: with Dr Bronwyn Jones. ‘Responsible Generative AI? Informing the Agenda for Journalism Education’. Presentation at the Association for Journalism Education (AJE)’s conference ‘AI: challenges and opportunities in journalism education’. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ai-challenges-and-opportunities-in-journalism-education-tickets-744964046517

09/01/2024: ‘To have done with AI and Internet Summer/Winter Narratives: Can History Cure the Hype?’ Presentation at the Archives of IT Forum on the Histories of the Internet. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/archives-of-it-forum-on-the-histories-of-the-internet-tickets-691738758247 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYNyn3FCF7c

10/11/2023: ‘From AI Grotesque to GAI Kitsch: Choreographies of Content Moderation and Political Correctness’. Invited talk at the AI versus Art Conference at the Athens School of Fine Arts. https://docs.google.com/document/d/135GxSpmxXrWGX5VVNC3yNeS3AXtxD9XIcrT9P5c1eUM/edit?fbclid=IwAR3vAC7WH8EVfMHc2_KdAI1c3qRGEKcciTNWN0uQB1gDs-39qPKRZPZGql8

04/05/2023: ‘Disrupting the Class, Corrupting the Youth: The Internet Studies Rap DJ Set.’ Alternative format presentation at AsSIST-UK: DISruption Conference 2023, Manchester, 4 and 5 September 2023. https://assistuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Published-Conference-Programme-01Sep2023.pdf

28/06/2023: ‘OpenAI's GPT-3 and ChatGPT: preempting the enemy by making it an ally in critical algorithm studies.’ Presentation at the University of Edinburgh's Learning and Teaching Conference 2023, ‘Investigate, inquire, innovate: exploring research-informed teaching practice', Edinburgh, 27-28 June 2023. https://universityofedinburgh.eventscase.com/EN/learningandteachingconference2023/Conference-Schedule Full video: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/learning-teaching-conference-2023/a4/

27-29/06/2023: ‘Monstrous AI as an Existential Threat: How Dystopian Thinking in the Press Triggered Utopian Thinking in Policy’ Presentation at the panel Media Dystopias in European Societies: Mapping a Variegated Field at the 29th Int'l Conference of Europeanists: Europe's Past, Present and Future: Utopias and Dystopias, ,June 27-29, 2023, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. https://councilforeuropeanstudies.org/2023-conference-program/

21-06-2023: Invited panelist at Panel: Shaping the Future: Will.A.I?. 29th IEEE ICE IEEE/ITMC (International Conference on Engineering, Technology, and Innovation) Conference 2023 Shaping the future: Data-driven Engineering, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Edinburgh, 19-22 June 2023. https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/ice-2023/programme/

17/06/2023: ‘ChatGPTeaching or ChatGPCheating? Preempting the enemy by making it an ally in critical algorithm studies’ Invited talk at NITIM (Networks, Information, Technology and Innovation Management) Doctoral School, Edinburgh, 15th-17th June 2023. https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/ice-2023/

05-06/06/2023: Vassilis Galanos, Addie McGowan, Kath Bassett, Liz McFall, James Henderson, Oliver Escobar. Working and experimenting with Data Civics: Community Leadership in North Edinburgh. Presentation at Una Europa International Conference on Cultural Heritage at Urban and Metropolitan Peripheries will take place at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne on 5–6 June 2023. https://www.una-europa.eu/calendar/international-conference-cultural-heritage-at-the-urban-and-metropolitan-peripheries

25/05/2023: ‘Historicising the Parallel Evolution of Conceptualisations and Promises in Artificial Intelligence: Media Archaeology, Meet the Sociology of Expectations.’ Presentation at ICA Preconference: History of Digital Metaphors (May 25, 2023), ICA Communication History Division, Centre for Culture and Technology, University of Toronto. https://digitalmetaphors.wordpress.com/2023/04/19/program/

18/05/2023: ‘Socio-Temporal Paradoxes between Screens and Spans: Can there be a Sociology of Increasingly Decreasing Duration?’ Presentation at New Directions conference, Sociology, University of Edinburgh. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-directions-conference-2023-tickets-629351606597

12/05/2023: ‘Tale of Three Toxicities: e-Waste, Online Harms, and Quantified Selves.’ Invited guest lecture and workshop at the course Organizational Digital Transformation (ODT) organised by Dr Luis Soares, as part of the Master in Communication Studies: Strategic Communication and Leadership at the Faculty of Human Sciences of the Catholic University of Portugal (Faculdade de Ciências Humanas da Universidade Católica Portuguesa).

25/04/2023: ‘ChatGPTeaching or ChatGPCheating? Arguments from a semester with large language models in class.’ Presentation at The Platform Social Inaugural Workshop, April 25, University of Edinburgh. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-platform-social-inaugural-event-tickets-609304685717

03/12/2022: ‘Socio-Temporal Paradoxes between Screens and Spans: Average Duration of Moving Visual Works, Technical Limitations, and Social Demands from Outdoor Theatre to TikTok.’ Presentation at AMPS conference Representing Pasts - Visioning Futures (track The Site as Screen and Surface), co-organised by Queen’s University Belfast,| Cape Peninsula University of Technology, National University of Singapore, 01-03 December 2022. https://amps-research.com/conference/visioning/

25/11/2022: Historicising the Parallel Evolution of Conceptualisations and Promises in Artificial Intelligence: Media Archaeology, Meet the Sociology of Expectations. Presentation at Simposio Internacional en Historia y Teoría de Medios 2022 / International Symposium on Media History and Theory 2022 (SHM2022), 24-25 November 2022. https://www.udea.edu.co/wps/portal/udea/web/inicio/campanas/simposio-internacional-historia-medios

10/11/2022: Dominguez, A. & Galanos, V. A Toolkit of Dilemmas: Beyond debiasing and fairness formulas for responsible AI/ML at IEEE SSIT International Symposium on Technology and Society 2022 [ISTAS 2022] (track 11 Social Choice and Decision Complexity). https://www.istas22.org/program/track-11/

31/09/2022: Ponce Del Castillo, A. & Galanos, V. Between Governance and the Everydayness of Gig Work, Algorithms, and the Broader Social Picture. Reimagining Platforms symposium at the University of Edinburgh. https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/reimagining/

15/01/2022: McFall, L, McGowan, A. & Galanos, V. ‘"We don't do digital, we dig it all": Experimenting with ‘Data Civics’ methods to support urban regeneration in Granton, Edinburgh’. Featured presentation following the ‘The Culture & Communities Mapping Project’ book launch event hosted by Morgan Currie and Melisa Miranda Correa. https://www.cdcs.ed.ac.uk/events/book-launch-culture-communities-mapping-project

01/06/2022: “Why so Few AI Practitioners in AI Policy? Specialist Views on Questions of Control, Regulation, and Participation in Highly Promissory Environments.” at panel “STI policies and coproduction” (also chair). Eu-SPRI 2022 conference Challenging Science and Innovation Policy, Utrecht, Netherlands. https://euspri2022.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/556/2022/05/EuSPRI-2022-Programme.pdf

20/10/2021: “The Interplay of Mythological/Religious Narratives and Contemporary Social Shaping of Artificial Intelligence” invited talk at the Can Science Create Societies?, Colloquia in Intelligent Systems, Measurements, and Actuators (CISMA) Webinar Series. https://nitter.poast.org/CISMA_Colloquia

06-09/10/2021: “Expectations And Expertise: Can STS And AI Benefit from each other?” at panel “Metaexpertise? STS, Metascience, and Data Science - I: The Technologies of Meta-expertise” at the 2021 Meeting of the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S), Toronto, 6-9 October, 2021.

06-09/10/2021: Detfurth, N. E., Baumgartner, R, & Galanos, V. “AI in Medicine: from Expert Systems to Deep Learning and Algorithm-driven Health Care” at panel “The Prediction Factor: Medical Decision in the Age of Big Data - II: Concerns about the prediction factor: regulation in question?” at the 2021 Meeting of the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S), Toronto, 6-9 October, 2021.

20-21/05/2021: “Expectations and Expertise: can Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) learn and benefit from each other?” In panel: “The future of STS” at the Nordic Science and Technology Studies Conference 2021: STS and the Future as a Matter of Collective Concern, Copenhagen Business School, May 20-21, 2021

13/03/2021: “Lafcadio Hearn and the Eco-ethics of Rinri as Artificial Intelligence Ethics: Travelling through the Uncanny Valley of Exoticism and Empiricism in Robotic and Ghostly Japan.” Invited talk at the webinar Lafcadio Hearn’s Journey into Culture, co-hosted by the Department of Tourism Management, School of Economics and Business at the University of Patras and the School Life and Education Museum at the National Centre of Research and Preservation of School Material, Athens, Greece. Available at: https://youtu.be/9zeRzMFjjK4?t=10946

12/03/2021: “Artificial Intelligence: the hype, the hope, the horror, and the journey to the AIknown.” Invited talk at the Scottish Seniors Computer Club’s Musselburgh group, Edinburgh.

03-05/03/2021: Galanos, V. & Williams, R. “Towards a Responsible Framework. Machine Learning in Radiology: Balancing Between Accuracy and Instability and Learning from Past Pitfalls.” Presentation at the Discourses and Knowledge Production panel, part of the Online Conference Fair Medicine and Artificial Intelligence organised by the Center for Gender and Diversity Research at the University of Tübingen.

26/02/2021: “The Role of Narratives in the Social Shaping of AI, Digital Realities, and Blockchain infusing innofusion with mythology, science fiction, psychology, and policy.” Invited talk at the Digital Inclusivity and Blockchain Event, organised by the School of Management and nChain at the University of Swansea.

27/01/2021: “The interplay of expectations and expertise in the construction of artificial intelligence (AI): insights from historical, sociological, and political groundings.” Invited talk at the Digital Future for Business & Society: Perspectives on AI Challenges and Opportunities seminar series co-hosted by the School of Management’s Emerging Markets Research Centre (EMaRC) at the University of Swansea and the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management Pune, India at the University of Swansea. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa1Dp62iNzs

15/12/2020: "Homo Viator, where are we going? Nomadic life in platform economy - hitchhiking, backpacking, CouchSurfing, AirBnB, and Booking" (In Greek). Invited talk at the course Introduction to Tourism at the Department of Tourism Management, School of Economics and Business at the University of Patras.

08/12/2020: "Technoscientific knowledge, artificial intelligence, and ethics: Problems, preditctions, promises, prophecies, and proactive thinking" (In Greek). Invited talk at the course Bioethics at the Department of Communication and Media Studies at the School of Economics and Political Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

20/10/2020: "Technoscientific knowledge and machine learning: Challenges and opportunities, judgement and reckoning, accuracy and instability." Invited talk at the postgraduate course Foundation in Responsible Research and Innovation, taught at part of the UKRI CDT in Biomedical AI.

29/11/2019: "Journey into the AIknown: Experiential Questions Concerning Expanding Experts, Exponential Expectations, and Expatriated Researchers" Invited lecture for the Welfare Access Through Technology research group (WATT) at the Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy at the Faculty of Social Sciences, OsloMet, Norway.

06/11/2019: "From Hysterical AI to Historical AI: Lessons from AI’s history, or, How to Survive a New AI Winter" Introductory talk prior to the AI Ethics & Society research group's screening of BBC TV’s June 1973 Lighthill Controversy Debate INSPACE, Informatics Forum, 1 Crichton St, University of Edinburgh.

04/09/2019: "The Inadequacy of Laboratory Studies and the Usefulness of Interviews in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics" Presentation at the panel Lab Studies Reloaded? Machine Learning, Ethnography, and Critical STS as part of 4S 2019, New Orleans, organised by the Society for Social Studies of Science.

20/05/2019: "Questions Concerning Fair Machines: AI ethics turning Japanese, I think they’re turning Japanese, I really think so (maybe)" Presentation at the panel Fair machines: Student perspective on Data Justice and Ethics (High School Yards Teaching Centre, G.02) as part of the Data Justice Week - with support from the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) and the Centre for Research in Digital Education.

16/05/2019: "Journey into the AIknown: Hypes, Hopes, Horrors of the Singularity" Presentation at Merging Human and Machines: Not-So-Far-Futures, a series of brief presentations and facilitated panel Q&A delivered as part of the Scottish Government's Learning at Work Week, hosted by Robert Pembleton and organised by Dave McNab.

09/05/2019: "Journey into the AIknown: Experiential Questions Concerning Expanding Experts, Exponential Expectations, and Expatriated Researchers" Presentation at the 2019 STIS/ISSTI PhD Days at St Cecilia’s Hall - Concert Hall, Edinburgh, 9-10 May 2019.

29/03/2019: "Beyond Robodemons and AIngels: Expanding Expertise, Extreme Expectations, Polarised Promises, Hypes, Hopes, Horrors from the Early Steps of AI to the Singularity." Invited lecture at the seminar AI: Demon or Angel. The Singularity, part of the Controversies in the Data Society seminar series, organised by Dr James Stewart with the support of the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI).

22/03/2019: "Beyond Robodemons and AIngels: Expanding Expertise, Extreme Expectations, Polarised Promises, Hypes, Hopes, Horrors from the Early Steps of AI to the Singularity." Invited talk at the panel Is the Hype in A.I. Justified?, chaired by Dr James Stewart and organised by Jonathan Smellie, together with Dr Guido Sanguinetti, Dr Ben Alison, and Dr Ian Poole, Friday 22nd March 2019, Informatics Forum, University of Edinburgh. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSNnBHTRd0k

17/12/2018: “Exploring expanding expertise: artificial intelligence as an existential threat and the role of prestigious commentators, 2014–2018.” Presentation at the Science in Public 2018 Conference Monday 17th to Wednesday 19th December, Cardiff University.

16/07/2018: “Reflections on the Uncanny Valley.” Presentation at the Uncanny Bodies Workshop (co-organised by Dr Gill Haddow), 16-17 July 2018, Edinburgh.

28/06/2018: “The Moral Question Concerning Sex (and) Robots: Nonhuman Liberation from Viral Diseases or Ultimate Objectification?” Presentation at the Sex, Death, Disease, and Conflict: The State and Morality 1864-1964 symposium Thursday 28th June 2018, Newcastle University.

18/05/2018: “Extreme Expectations and Expanding Expertise in Policy Documents Concerned with Artificial Intelligence in the UK, US, and EU: A Preliminary Taxonomy, and an Invitation for Empirical Work.” Presentation at the Technology and Innovation Management session at the 24th Annual SPRU PhD Forum, 17-18 May 2018, University of Sussex. (An expanded version of this presentation is forthcoming as a paper in Technology Analysis and Strategic Mangement).

19/02/2018: “The Luciferian Nature of Information and the Informational Nature of Lucifer: A Discordian Understanding of the Cryptic Resurgence of Satanic Principles in the Information Age.” Presentation at The Postmodern Occult: A Witchcraft Symposium, University of Edinburgh.

05-06/12/2017: “Sociology of Extreme Expectations: The Case of Artificial Intelligence”. Poster presented at PACTMAN: Trust, Privacy and Consent in Future Pervasive Environments (EPSRC-funded project on Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security in the Digital Economy.)

Other Related Activities, Public and Academic Service

2023-present: Associate Editor - Technology Analysis and Strategic Management. https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=editorialBoard&journalCode=ctas20

2020-present: Reviewer for the journals AI & Society; Science, Technology & Human Values; Technology Analysis & Strategic Management; Computer Law and Security; Review International Review of Administrative Sciences; BMC Health Services Research; Policy and Society; Science, Engineering and Technology; Journal of Big Data. Upon invitation, I have also offered reviews for numerous edited volumes or prestigious conferences. I have also offered reviews for two research grants.

20-22/09/2023: Expert intervention at the European Trade Union Institute's training Course ref. 2352-067 “AI in the workplace: data and algorithms,” September 20-22, 2023.

2023: Chairing conference panels various AMPS (Architecture, Media, Politics and Society) conferences, including: Applying Education, April 26-28, 2023 (https://amps-research.com/event/virtual-applying-education/); Livable Cities, June 14-16, 2023(https://amps-research.com/conference/livable-cities-new-york/).

24/01/2023 and 07/02/2023: Expert consultation at the European Commission’s Robotics4EU Social Maturity workshop. https://www.robotics4eu.eu/

23-25/11/2021: Expert intervention at the European Trade Union Institute's “AI in the Workplace: Data and Algorithms” training workshop https://www.etui.org/training/ai-workplace-data-and-algorithms

26-27/11/2020: Worked as expert foresight advisor at the European Trade Union Institute's "ETUI Strategic Foresight Project - scenarios workshop." https://etui.org/About-Etui/Foresight-unit2

2018-2021: With my colleague Fiona Coyle, we served as STIS's PhD community's representatives. During that time, I also co-manage the STIS department's Twitter account (@UoE_STIS) and built its social media strategy.

18/11/2019: Inviting and chairing the talk "Botanic Gardens: Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?" by David Ingram as part of the STIS Seminar Series, at Violet Laidlaw Room, Crystal Macmillan Building, University of Edinburgh.

06/11/2019: How to Survive a New AI Winter: Lessons from AI’s history (Screening of the BBC TV debate between John McCarthy, Donald Michie, Richard Gregory, and Sir James Lighthill). Part of AI Ethics and Society research group, INSPACE, Informatics Forum, 1 Crichton St. University of Edinburgh.

04/04/2019: Screening of a theatrical performance of R.U.R.: Rossum's Universal Robots by Karel Čapek and moderation of follow-up discussion on dystopian futures and promissory fallacies of AI. Part of AI Ethics and Society reading/discussion group organised by Sarah Bennett, Thursday 4th April 2019, Newhaven Lecture Theatre, University of Edinburgh.

2018-present: Co-organising numerous events, a conference (Critical Perspective on AI Ethics (CPAIE2020). https://www.criticalperspectives-aies.com/) and a colloquium with the AI Ethics & Society team: https://www.ai-ethics.org/

January-June 2018: Co-establishment with Dr Stephen Harwood (Business School) and Lukas Engelmann (STIS) of the Cybernetics Today reading group, which ran for 5 sessions during the second term and led to the emergence of an interdisciplinary cluster expected to facilitate more activities in the future.

Further information, art and photography

Sometimes I take pictures and I sketch. https://www.flickr.com/photos/onesec/albums

Some of my pictures have been featured on online publications. Some include:

Biegler, P. (2012). How We Evolved to Reject Climate Science. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/how-we-evolved-to-reject-climate-science-10711

Pop, E. (2012). A Letter from New York: Romania’s Winter of Discontent. Transregional Center of Democratic Studies. The New School. https://blogs.newschool.edu/tcds/2012/02/02/romanias-winter-of-discontent/

Sputnik Globe (2013). Tuva – A Land of Shamans and Horse Wranglers https://sputnikglobe.com/20130817/Tuva---kray-shamanov-i-tabunschikov-182783476.html (Pictures from my journey to Tuva, South-Eastern Siberia)

Also featured on the Greek magazine Tachydromos and have exhibited three times in Greece.

The following YouTube channel is my attempt at saving rare musical archives from oblivion. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTdk8oVdKsn4bfq64O4A6HA/videos

My non-academic CV includes a notable career as a DJ in Greece and Copenhagen. I was recently invited to perform a DJ set on the Paris-based international Radio Flouka راديو فلوكة station. A recording can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/radioflouka/rapid-eye-movement-cinturon-negro-invites-onesecafterthelaughter-19-03-2024

I was the executive producer for the short film ‘The Assassin from New Jersey,’ a 12-minute visualisation of a ‘horrorcore rap opera’ written nd performed by my late bandmate and friend Bdelygma, the first openly gay rapper from Greece. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfj1plOFzIk

Several people insisted that I should put here the link to this amazing moment in my life when I had the opportunity to jam with the legendary jazz band Sun Ra Arkestra back in 2010, so, there you go: https://youtu.be/naxejPdCzoU?t=300

Comics and illustrations

2019-2021: I have been submitting short theoretical essays and 2-page black-and-white comics of nonlinear narrative to the bimonthly sociological, political, and artistic magazine Yusra [ISSN 2653-9438, in Greek] https://yusramag.wordpress.com/

01/05/2020: I have contributed with illustrations to the first two parts of the Adventures of Another Gringo who Wanted to be a Shaman novel-part fiction memoirs by Nathan D. Horowitz. https://www.amazon.com/Gateway-Mexico-Adventures-Nightime-Daydreams/dp/1790482712 and https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bat-Dreams-Adventures-Nighttime-Daydreams/dp/1798219298/

Artificial intelligence Critical data studies Cybernetics Digital cultures Historical sociology History of science History of technology Information science Internet studies Media studies Research cultures Robotics Science and technology studies (STS) Sociology of expectations Studies of expertise and experience