Take Back the Algorithms! A Media Theory of Commonistic Affordance

Abstract

This essay critiques the "black-boxing" of many computational processes, which are argued to result in a kind of "unaffordability" of algorithms. By engaging with current theoretical debates on "commoning“ signifying a non-profit-oriented, solidarity-based approach to sharing, maintaining, and disseminating knowledge and experience“ the essay offers a formulation of commonistic affordance in algorithmic contexts. Through the discussion of widely used computational tools such as the Viola-Jones object detection framework, radical steps towards a "making affordable" of algorithms are outlined, and the widespread corporate propertisation of computation processes is contrasted with a speculative vision of algorithmic commoning.