Algorithmic Knowledge and Epistemic FUD
May 8, 2026
Algorithmic systems are automating knowledge production and institutional decision-making, displacing traditional epistemic authority while generating systemic confabulations that destabilize policy and public discourse. Simultaneously, state actors and platform monopolies are consolidating control over critical infrastructure, agricultural supply chains, and communicative networks, weaponizing security rhetoric to justify enclosure and suppress interoperability. This convergence is eroding institutional resilience, forcing sovereign and care-based networks to rebuild material and digital infrastructure outside centralized governance architectures.
-
BRIEF
AI in the emergency department: promising, powerful but still unproven
Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock.com Artificial intelligence can now outperform doctors at diagnosing patients in the emergency department, according to a new study in Science. The AI was given written notes from real emergency department records from a hospital in Boston, US, and asked to weigh in at diffe…
- all
-
BRIEF
Semafor’s new AI tool helped boil down its entire flagship conference into nine takeaways
On April 13, more than 500 CEOs and other power brokers gathered in Washington, D.C. to join Semafor World Economy. Across the five-day event, hundreds of speakers took the stage, including Goldman Sachs President John Waldron, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, and nine sitting U.S. ca…
- media and technology
-
BRIEF
Online hate groups sustain their messages by repeating powerful stories or routinely adding new allegations
Studying the types of messages hate groups spew online helps researchers understand the groups' persistence. Westend61/Westend61 via Getty Images Hate communities often flourish online for years, raising the question of how they persist. My research team has found that powerful stories keep members…
- all
-
BRIEF
Message from Claude Mythos
- media and technology
- AI governance
- structural power
-
BRIEF
Vladimir Putin Is Much Weaker Than You Think
Used to outwitting his enemies, the Russian leader is running out of room for maneuver.
- geopolitics
- structural power
-
BRIEF
A Bet Is Not a Poll
Polymarket and Kalshi offer to predict the future. Journalists should be wary, especially during elections.
- media and technology
- structural power
-
ANALYSIS
Russian Court Orders Takeover of Major Food Producer Amid Wartime Rise in State Seizures
A court order to seize billionaire Vadim Moshkovich’s stake in one of Russia’s largest agricultural companies was only the latest in an increasing number of state seizures since the Kremlin’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
- structural power
- geopolitics
-
BRIEF
The AI scientist: now academic papers can be fully automated, what does this mean for the future of research?
whiteMocca/Shutterstock Until recently, AI’s role in research felt like having a useful assistant. It could summarise a paper, clean up a dataset or draft an abstract. Researchers were still in charge of the thinking. That changed in late 2025 when cutting-edge “frontier” AI models became capable of…
- all
-
BRIEF
With Malice
Kash Patel’s FBI is going after reporters and news organizations for routine newsgathering practices.
- media and technology
- structural power
-
BRIEF
A new international coalition aims to speed up the phase-out of oil
Nearly 60 countries launch coalition to accelerate the energy transition against the backdrop of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz
- structural power
- geopolitics
-
BRIEF
Who Is Xi’s Real No. 2?
The Chinese leader isn’t willing to give anybody else power.
- geopolitics
- structural power
-
BRIEF
The Right to Access Foreign Communicative Infrastructure
- media and technology
- AI governance
- structural power
-
BRIEF
"Security vs. Interoperability" Arguments
- media and technology
- AI governance
- structural power
-
BRIEF
Canada: How Manitoba’s new right to repair legislation could work for farmers
Right to repair legislation is currently being presented in the Manitoba Legislature, and though the bill is Manitoba-specific, it carries significance for farmers across the country. The post Canada: How Manitoba’s new right to repair legislation could work for farmers appeared first on La Via Camp…
- food sovereignty
-
BRIEF
Five times AI hallucinations embarrassed governments
From the Trump administration’s “formatting errors” to South Africa’s historic policy withdrawal, AI confabulation is infiltrating official documents.
- AI governance
- media and technology
- geopolitics
-
BRIEF
How China Is Winning the Global AI Race
Cutting-edge U.S. models are too expensive for much of the world.
- geopolitics
- structural power
-
BRIEF
Canada is kicking its US booze habit as trade tensions persist
One of the most visible ways that Canada responded to President Donald Trump's tariffs was by sharply restricting U.S. alcohol sales. AP Photo/Jill Colvin Almost a year and a half after President Donald Trump began slapping tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners, Canada’s pushback has reordered…
- all