The Elon Musks of the world abuse #sf, #AI companies push eerie next-word predictors into our lives, and prediction markets accelerate corruption.

So…, how about reclaiming the format of predictions? As critical thinkers? Can it work?

Welcome to our Predictions project:

www.matteringpress.org/books/pre…

We assembled a wonderful collective of writers, from STS scholars to poets. Read the pieces and check out our introduction to get a sense of our thought process; it has been quite a ride.

Thanks to Mél, Edward, Hollis, the folks at Mattering Press, and, most importantly, the crowd of predictors who have been part of the process. In a few weeks, we will follow up with a second volume and an even wider collective that has shaped this project.

Collectively troubling timescapes is one of the sweetest aspects of thinking through predictions.

“We invite you to engage with Predictions as openings: opportunities to read generously and wander thoughtfully. To let go of extractivist habits of reading; to resist the pull to mine for definitive conclusions. Instead, we invite you to trace the threads that resonate with you, even if they fray at the edges.”

Rethinking reading and writing in academia is a key task, a helpful intervention. Related contributions are zines, a sci-fi story about overcoming excessive data infrastructures in the university, a speculative dictionary discussing virtuality, among other things.