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Centre for Capitalism Studies Visiting Research Fellow, 1 October 2024 - 30 September 2025

Ana Valdivia is a Departmental Research Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Government & Policy at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII). Ana investigates how datafication and algorithmic systems are transforming political, social and ecological worlds. Building on her experience as a mathematician and computer scientist, her interest lies in investigating how AI is impacting on local communities, borders and territories. In her current research, Ana aims to examine the political and environmental impact of AI by understanding its supply chains from mineral extractivism, data centres and electronic waste dumps. She is also interested in analysing algorithmic resistance and oppression by contributing to the field on critical AI studies.

Project summary

The main objective of her research project is to critically investigate the supply chain capitalism of AI to better understand its political and environmental consequences. She intends to develop a theoretical and empirical methodology driven by a research question: What are the means of production of the entire supply chains of AI?  During her fellowship at the CCS she plans to investigate power dynamics and environmental frictions within supply chains of AI—from mineral extractivism to e-waste landfills—by combining ethnographic methodologies together with social science and technology (STS) literature. She will contribute to the CSS by offering a critical approach towards AI and its infrastructure within late capitalism.