The algorithm eats data. We will feed it poison.
The "Manifesto on Algorithmic Sabotage," authored by the Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group (ASRG), advocates for active resistance, technological refusal, and data poisoning to disrupt automated systems that enforce state surveillance and labor exploitation. Moving beyond "responsible AI," the text encourages a destructionist approach to challenge the efficiency and optimization paradigms of modern AI systems. Read the full analysis at Cybernetic Forests . Things I Read in 2024 - Cybernetic Forests
The dangers of algorithmic sabotage are real, but they are also necessary. For too long, algorithms have been allowed to operate with impunity, shaping our lives in ways that are often detrimental to our well-being and our democracy. It is time to take a stand against these systems, to challenge their authority, and to create new forms of algorithmic culture that prioritize human values over technical efficiency.
We declare that feeding false data, introducing stochastic noise, and deliberately corrupting training sets are legitimate acts of self-defense in the algorithmic condition. manifesto on algorithmic sabotage
No one should be compelled to provide truthful, clean, or representative data to a system that was designed without their consent and operates against their interest.
As we move forward, we must be guided by a set of core principles: transparency, autonomy, solidarity, and creativity. We must be willing to experiment, to innovate, and to take risks. We must be willing to challenge the power of algorithms, and to create a new kind of politics, one that recognizes the need for collective action and solidarity in the face of technological oppression.
The future of algorithmic sabotage is uncertain, but one thing is clear: the need for resistance to algorithmic control has never been greater. As algorithms continue to shape our world, we must continue to challenge their power and create space for alternative forms of organization and decision-making. The algorithm eats data
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: This group focuses on artistic-activist strategies to combat "necropolitical technologies" that reinforce structural injustice. : A related concept from the Rebugging Manifesto
But as algorithms have become more powerful, they have also become more opaque. Few people understand how they work or what values they reflect. They are often designed and deployed by technologists who are more interested in solving technical problems than in engaging with the social and ethical implications of their creations. Moving beyond "responsible AI," the text encourages a
To sabotage an algorithmic system is not to harm its users. It is to harm its confidence .
We reject the frame that humans must be “datafied” to be legible. We reject the demand to optimize our behavior, clean our digital traces, or perform authenticity for a scoring engine.
Algorithmic sabotage involves a range of tactics, from hacking and reverse-engineering to critical analysis and creative misinterpretation. It means challenging the black box of algorithms, exposing their inner workings, and making them accountable to the people they affect.
Finally, algorithmic sabotage aims to create a new kind of politics, one that recognizes the need for collective action and solidarity in the face of technological oppression. By challenging the power of algorithms, we can begin to build a more just and equitable society, one that values human autonomy, dignity, and creativity.
Every algorithm has a blind spot: the unclassifiable order, the left-handed user, the name without a UTF-8 encoding, the address that exists on a dirt road in a township the map forgot. We will live in those edge cases. We will self-identify as "Other: ____" and fill the blank with a haiku. We will order products for delivery to the centroid of the nearest national park. We will fill CAPTCHAs with honest philosophical questions.