Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD Anthropologist of Innovation (and all the hype that entails)

Anthropology and AI explores the complex intersection of artificial intelligence and human society through a diverse collection of anthropological and social scientific perspectives. Artificial intelligence is rapidly accelerating and permeating the everyday lives of people around the world in ways that are full of promise, perils, and potentials. How does anthropology respond to this? This timely volume brings together twelve carefully curated chapters examining AI’s many manifestations—from machine listening and engineers’ philosophies to large language models and conversational agents. Curated with a broad humanistic and social scientific audience in mind but firmly rooted within broader anthropological and STS conversations about humanity and technology, the contributions are situated on a broad spectrum of approaches to artificial intelligence, spanning theoretical, empirical, and applied social scientific research. Anthropology and AI will appeal to students and researchers across anthropology, science and technology studies, digital humanities, and computer science who are interested in critical perspectives on emerging technologies.

As a first-generation scholar, my ambitions have always necessitated a patchwork career in parallel to my anthropological education. From customer service through to web development, these professional experiences have been shaped by my growth as an anthropologist and vice versa. This chapter is a reflection, inspired by teaching applied anthropology students, that explores what I learned tacking between theoretical anthropology and applied anthropology and how this tacking became an intertwining praxis at the intersection of design, technology, and anthropology. First, I argue that anthropology is not a career path that can only lead down one of two divergent roads: “academic” or “applied.” Rather, it is a way of thinking; it is a critical and ethical commitment; it is an ability to sit comfortably with intolerable complexity of social life and make sense of it;; and it is a curiosity and engagement with anthropological conversations. Second, I outline a series of tactics for building a more productive and impactful anthropological praxis from this perspective. I contextualize these tactics as not merely ways to “get things done” but also as a way of testing, extending, and expanding anthropological understandings of design so that we may also “do some good.”

The post explores the evolution and current challenges of the concept of culture in anthropology. Originating from 19th-century definitions linked to civilization and Kultur, culture has been reshaped by figures like Tylor, Boas, and Levi-Strauss. Today, culture is seen less as a unified whole and more as contested and fragmented, influenced by postmodernity's challenges. Contemporary anthropologists navigate these complexities, some seeking stability in science while others explore interpretation and description. The debate over culture's role — whether it should remain central or be de-emphasized — persists, shaping how anthropology understands human societies in a world marked by flux and diversity.