AgoraDialogue2024 #Are you a proletarian data worker?
Preface#
Today, we live in a fast-paced data society. Regardless of appearances, the prosperous life presented by the internet is rooted in a data network that expands outward with greed and flexibly adjusts its internal weights. You, I, and most people are no different; we are both consumers of data and producers of data: our communication, journeys, and attention, every footprint in any online space, is fed into the algorithm factories of major companies, customizing addictive illusions centered around individuals. "Big Data" was once a key term in the rise of the Chinese internet, and with the advantage of population size, the domestic market became a natural data mine, leading to the saying that "whoever has the data holds the world" in fields such as e-commerce, short videos, social media, and travel apps.
For a long time, users have lacked agency over data privacy. Perhaps you have no direct perception of this, or even some confusion: Is all this really happening around me?
Your confusion is precisely the cunning aspect of the data society. "Radical Markets" has long shown us that in today's society, engaging in "data work" is akin to the domestic work of housewives, as a form of invisible labor, it exists and has actual value, yet it is not measured in economics; thus, value producers cannot capture the value they create.
"Data work" first entered people's view through user-generated content (UGC), marking the leap from Web1 to Web2. The interconnectedness of the internet has made users producers of content, and the internet has evolved into a land-grabbing movement by big capital and internet companies. Once a free public domain, the internet is now monopolized, privatized, and colonized by tech giants, designing various dopamine mechanisms to attract and tame large numbers of users and audiences that align with corporate interests.
Today, the data society lurks in people's daily lives in a form and spirit akin to "technofeudalism." It has not only become a pair of eyes peering into the private spaces of the masses but has also built a "information cocoon" Babel tower with algorithms. Existence itself has become increasingly non-material, abstract, and elusive, with the capitalist specter hovering over the internet alienating people, having evolved from whips and discipline to today's fatigue and addiction.
Due to passive neglect, dissolution, and algorithmic traps, most people are "forced" to lack sensitivity to data dignity and lack means to protect their own interests. However, the scale of technology's occupation of data continues, gradually forming structured predatory behavior.
Two years ago, after the success of ChatGPT developed by OpenAI, "artificial intelligence" technology surged, becoming the absolute hotspot in the tech industry. While enjoying exponential growth in productivity, issues related to data privacy are also escalating. In mid-2023, Hollywood initiated a strike to protest AI threats, with artists, writers, and image companies suing OpenAI for using their works to train large models without permission. By the end of the year, several media outlets, led by The New York Times, launched similar public accusations. The speed of collective rules and social responses lags far behind technological advancements, and most lawsuits are merely futile attempts, unable to produce substantial meaning and change.
Are we powerless against this data plunder of Web2?#
Whether it's the "data alliance" proposed by Matt Prewitt or the "data trust" suggested by Sylvie Delacroix and Neil Lawrence, they express the same aim: effective data rights protection comes from collective self-rescue. It should be a self-reflective yet organized bottom-up structure. Thus, the fermentation of this idea has given birth to a cryptographic distributed computing technology—blockchain. This technology is born from critical reflection on technology itself. It is equally rapid and forceful, yet it forms a subtle tension with artificial intelligence technology. Web2 is sick; can blockchain be the remedy? Our discussion unfolds from here.
From 2023 to 2024, new cryptographic technologies are continuously emerging in blockchain to address the centralization of data issues posed by AI. Among them, the most representative are ZKML (Zero-Knowledge Proof Machine Learning) and DePin (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) tracks. The former utilizes zero-knowledge proof technology to decentralize machine learning; the latter employs incentive models and distributed computing to decentralize computing and storage networks. Can these new technologies in the blockchain field answer the dilemma of "data dignity"? How far are they from large-scale application? What challenges do they face?
We hope to use specific technologies as a starting point to engage in an in-depth discussion on the topic of "data dignity," and not limited to the following questions:
Invisible Data Work
As an internet surfing user, when did you start to realize that surfing the internet is not just about surfing, but also involves invisible data labor, where your time becomes a leverage for big companies to capture economic value, and you are still working after hours, unable to stop scrolling on your phone... These may not be simply your "voluntary" actions or a matter of "poor self-control." What data-driven designs in the internet products you have experienced left a deep impression on you?
Individual Data Privacy
"Data dignity" is not just about individual management of information and data; the main issue we face today also includes the inequality of information and responsibilities between individuals and organizations. The privacy agreements that have long been pre-checked and agreed upon when using various apps are almost like a one-sided clause. How can individuals effectively manage their own data? What responsibilities do organizations have to protect users' privacy?
Data Production Relations
Today, data, as an important asset of the information age, involves a complex web of competitive relationships. When old production methods combine with new content, they create entirely new production structures and operational modes. In a certain macro context, how can this data production relationship be imagined? Where does the tension between its real form and ideal operational mechanism lie?
Blockchain as a Method
As a new technology that is currently thriving and possesses strong vitality and emergence, do you think blockchain can be a good remedy for data privacy issues? Is the impact of blockchain on Web2 a local improvement, a global update, or a land grab in their respective contradictions?
We hope you will join us in the urban living room to rethink life, encounter conversations happening in another space, and collectively experience the "Agora Dialogue."
This time, we hope to invite everyone to play a board game about the operational logic and rules of the data society: The Crypto “Argo” in Data-sea. Its Chinese translation is: 加密公海上的阿尔戈.
In Greek mythology, Argo is a ship filled with heroes sailing towards an ideal place. In the data high seas, everyone is a real participant.
Find Your Favorite Living Room#
A place that has disappeared from our daily and public lives; a space of departure where we can engage in various activities for our own sake, where we think, collide, and create; a "lying flat" space where we gain leisure and free time.
Living Room Host | A-Dai and Others
Daily likes to daydream, working a job to make ends meet, imagining some whimsical things, where will the trajectory of life lead?
Host | Bala
Event Time
5 / 18 Saturday 14:30
19.9 RMB / person
The Sewage Space is a public co-living space initiated by three friends—Jessy, Jerry, and G, which will open its more than 50 square meters large living room on weekends for events. We hope everyone can detach from profit relationships in the "sewage" and achieve emotional and intellectual connections.
Living Room Host / Moderator | Jessy
Web3 industry media person
Event Time
5 / 18 Saturday 14:30
22.2 RMB / person
A self-used office, not large, accommodating a maximum of 8-10 people. This event's theme is "Web3 Social: How to Achieve Decentralization and Data Privacy?" We will discuss how we can better share our data with the currently popular web3 social protocols.
Living Room Host | Wang Yixiang
A cryptography enthusiast studying cybersecurity
Event Time
5 / 18 Saturday 15:00
23 RMB / person
The Between Living Laboratory is a unique space aimed at exploring, simulating, and expanding everyday behaviors, reactions, and experiences. The laboratory centers around the concept of "between," emphasizing the interactions, transformations, connections, and influences between different things. It is not just a physical space but also an experimental field that promotes exploration and expansion of daily life experiences in various domains, relationships, or environments.
Living Room Host | Tianxing
Works in the Department of Business Administration at Nankai University, co-founded and operates a research capability development community with friends, enjoys writing, painting, traveling, and reading.
Event Time
5 / 18 Saturday 15:00
30 RMB / person
It's really just my living room.
Living Room Host | sz/Xiao Wang
In my thirties / infj / Hangzhou native, just moved to Tokyo for over half a year, currently in the stage of trying to understand the local area better / striving to root down. I have many interests, such as music, cooking, and sports, and I am very interested in in-depth discussions on humanities and social sciences, and I am very willing to hear different voices from different backgrounds. Before the pandemic, I operated a small gallery of traditional Japanese art in London, and after the pandemic, I insisted on slowly closing it down for a year, planning to restart based in Tokyo by the end of the year. Everyone is welcome to come and play with me~
Event Time
5 / 19 Sunday 14:30
1000 yen / person
(Offering various coffees and light alcoholic beverages)
Near the financial district, Canary Wharf - Canary#63
You can explore conversations over the aroma of coffee, or enjoy your favorite cocktails in the sunny courtyard of summer London...
Living Room Host | Keke
Space manager, executive, guide, coach, investor / serial entrepreneur
Producer / host of "CSS | Exploring the Wonderful World of Web3.0" and "Climate Action 2050" podcast
Event Time
5 / 19 Sunday 14:30
10 pounds / person (nuts/chips)
706 Nanjing's urban living room is located next to Zhujiang Road subway station on Line 1, open to the local community in Nanjing, welcoming friends to initiate activities here. We do not aim for profit and provide free venue to partner organizations, hoping to create an ideal and healthy youth cultural community together.
Living Room Host | Bai Yuqing
A lawyer graduated in software engineering, started operating 706 Nanjing in 2020, hoping to change the world, currently actively understanding this society. I have given up on making decisive evaluations of the world, accepted the reality of not finding answers, and continue to work hard, feeling my way in the dark.
Event Time
5 / 19 Sunday 15:00
7.06 RMB / person
OpenSpace is an open Web3 space where we gather and cultivate some passionate individuals about Web3 technology.
Living Room Host | Tiny Bear
🧑💻 Initiator of the Chain Community, master's degree from Beihang University, 6 years of experience in the blockchain industry, rich experience in practical and teaching sharing of blockchain projects, participant in multiple excellent projects, with over a thousand students, author of several blockchain technology books, former guest lecturer at the Blockchain Technology Research Center of Xiamen University.
Host | Qiu Qiu
Contributor to OpenBuild & Plancker DAO, 706 slacker
Event Time
5 / 19 Sunday 15:00
29.9 RMB / person
Clearly, this is not a traditional tavern; we hope this [now-named tavern] can become a global urban hub, connecting local community windows, a diverse and open space container. Here, there are real connections and specific people, and together we liberate a new way of life through exploration and creation.
Host | Lao Han
Algorithm engineer, science fiction enthusiast, photographer, mediocre musician, initiator of the EIC super individual community
Host | Ade
Former cryptography engineer, easy-going, enjoys communication
Event Time
5 / 25 Saturday 15:00
Purchase any drink to participate
Welcome to BLOOOM, the place where inspiration blooms. One place inspires all, located in Wuhan Tongxingli, an old foreign-style house, 300 square meters, an environmentally friendly space. We want to invite new and old friends to gather here, eat together, chat together, converse together, and get things done together, hoping that every connection here brings more possibilities for each other.
Living Room Host | Bing Bang
Hello everyone, my name is Bing Bang.
Host | Haoran
Developer, digital nomad, everyone calls me Haoran.
Event Time
5 / 25 Saturday 15:00
39.9 RMB / person
The first digital nomad community and shared office space in China, aimed at digital nomads, remote workers, freelancers, independent entrepreneurs, technical developers, small and medium-sized teams, Web3, and flexible workers from various fields, providing a local space in Dali while also offering a platform for communication and sharing.
Host | Nian
DaliHub & "Digital Nomads Are Not Crazy" host, designer and content creator who studied in France, community researcher, has traveled to over 160 cities worldwide, promoter and practitioner of the digital nomad lifestyle, craft beer culture & blues dance enthusiast.
Co-host | Noodles
Host of Heishi Coffee, a mysterious programmer
Event Time
5 / 25 Saturday 15:00
39 RMB / person (includes one American coffee)
Our living room is a "Friends"-style urban co-living space, a local co-living space in Shenzhen. We hope to create a better living atmosphere, where roommates are no longer mere acquaintances but trustworthy partners or even friends. We look forward to finding that oasis in this cultural desert, seeking the missing proximity in an atomized society. We hope young people unite to create our own living space and lifestyle.
Living Room Host | Jiang Xingke
Founder of "Our Living Room." Film critic, movie blogger, host of the self-media channel "Xia Ying Ying Hua," currently has over a million followers online.
Host | Twone
Core contributor to Uncommons
Event Time
5 / 25 Saturday 15:00
19.9 RMB / person
510, reshaping the topology of life in a small space.
Living Room Host | He Fa
Host of P4 Theater, artist
Host | Ink
A new media artist in Beijing, my work involves algorithm programming, video performance, interactive generative art, video installations, AI, and other "tech art" fields. I also focus on post-humanism, philosophy of technology, history of science and philosophy, etc., and pay attention to radical thoughts, economic thoughts, and game theory applications in web3.
Event Time
5 / 25 Saturday 18:30
50 RMB / person
A café located in Kwun Tong, a great place for office workers to relax and enjoy meals. The owner is the handsome and cultured Eric! Various parties and gatherings can be held here~
Host | Aragorn
Currently working at HKU, wants to participate in the Night of a Hundred Ghosts, enjoys various strange stories, urban legends, ghost stories, and is very interested in researching folk beliefs. Wants to connect with more interesting people.
Co-initiator | Regina
Currently a freelancer starting a business, working hard to operate an AI startup and educational consulting business, always busy, loves to create. Will be responsible for connecting and planning various fun activities in Hong Kong in the future~
Event Time
5 / 26 Sunday 14:00
Consume any beverage to participate
An empty living room, a decentralized community activity space. This event will focus on casual conversations, covering basic concepts of Web3, the future world built by AI, the spirit of open source & community, and the impact of technology on daily life. Affe intends to use this sharing as a starting point to find partners for the "Technology & Efficiency" team in the empty living room.
Host | Affe
Member of the preparation group for the empty living room, independent developer in Web3 / AI
Event Time
5 / 26 Sunday 15:00
29 RMB / person
Located in Putuo District, 706 Shanghai Youth Space serves as a public function for both co-living and urban living rooms. Since its establishment, it has hosted hundreds of non-profit salons, lectures, creations, and events related to culture / art / academia / practice. We hope to become the Flaubert living room of Shanghai, sparking countless ideas while rediscovering life in co-living, and opening our living room and public space to allow young people and students new to Shanghai to enjoy cultural and intellectual life at a low cost.
Host | Lee
706 Shanghai Youth Space operational partner, a spiritual Dali person
Event Time
5 / 26 Saturday 16:00
39 RMB / person
Chiang Mai event preparation in progress, welcome to keep an eye on it
Online Special Event
706MLab Data Dignity
The 706 Media Laboratory was established in August 2021, gathering partners from online and offline salons to explore and study the possibilities of combining new media technology with community. Friends interested in cryptographic technology are welcome to come and exchange ideas.
Host | Deng Chen
Deng Chen, freelance writer, member of the 706 Media Laboratory, focuses on issues such as technological politics, online violence, and internet governance.
Event Time
5 / 26 Sunday 15:00
9.9 RMB / person
Registration and Consultation#
✨ To ensure the experience and effectiveness of the event, the living room dialogue has a certain limit; specific details can be confirmed in the registration form.
🥂 After registration is approved, the living room dialogue assistant will proactively contact you based on the reserved contact information. If the review is not approved, the assistant will refund the event fee.
🪐 Due to preparation factors such as materials and catering, transfers are only allowed within 24 hours before the start, and refunds are not provided.
👾 If you are interested in the "Agora Dialogue" living room dialogue and wish to become our living room host, moderator, or volunteer, please contact the living room dialogue support team and note "living room dialogue."
About Us#
Living Room Dialogue Agora Dialogue
Through a series of collective face-to-face conversations that take place in the living room, individuals with diverse viewpoints and educational backgrounds enter a relaxed and enjoyable communication environment, crossing divides, promoting understanding, and achieving greater consensus through genuine connections and participatory discussions. The aim is to improve people's lives by creating real connections with knowledge, experience, and methods. At the same time, we actively seek more ways to understand and interpret this form.
Uncommons
Uncommons is a public space within the blockchain world, a collective of Commons Builders exploring Crypto Thoughts together. Its predecessor was the GreenPill Chinese community.
LDNET Link Island Roaming Network
A space-sharing network concerning private living rooms and various independent spaces, advocating and supporting more space operators to host salons, gatherings, study tours, etc., connecting young people scattered across the city who care about public issues, overcoming the alienation of daily life through sincere interactions, finding possibilities for human interaction in this time and place, solidifying trustworthy community relationships, and building a global network across regions.
706 Youth Space
Originating from the cosmic center of Wudaokou, it is China's first youth space, attempting to create a new type of physical space. It has co-created dozens of 706 bases in several cities domestically and internationally while also incubating potential partner projects.
706 advocates a new type of education, travel, living, and social concept through a community-distributed operational model, allowing young people to explore more possibilities in life.
Uncommons is a public sphere where a collective of Commons Builders explores Crypto Thoughts together.
Uncommons 是区块链世界内一隅公共空间，一群公共物品建设者，在此碰撞加密人文思想。其前身为 GreenPill 中文社区。
Notion: https://uncommons.notion.site
Uncommons TG: https://t.me/theuncommons
Uncommons Twitter: https://twitter.com/Un__commons