Images of (social) data in an AI age

Alaimo and Kallinikos’s Data RULES is a seminal contribution in understanding the socio-technical dimensions of data in an AI-driven era. The book’s title itself invites intrigue. What exactly does Data RULES mean especially in an AI age? Are we to see it as signifying data’s dominance in shaping individuals, organisations, and societies, OR the frameworks that govern data, OR a triumphant rallying cry celebrating data’s transformative power? Perhaps, all of the above! The authors propose that data should be understood beyond its technical artefact as deeply social, something that both reflects and reshapes the world. Their call for a social science of data as a counterpoint to the dominant technical data science is timely and provocative, offering a fresh lens to interrogate the pervasive influence of data in an AI age. Inspired by Gareth Morgan’s classic, Images of Organizations (2006), I propose four images of (social) data to capture the book’s core themes. These are: data as a social foundation, data as a life journey, data as knowing practices of surveillance and transformation, and data rules as integral to future ecosystems. Below, I start by elaborating the key theoretical ideas behind each image of data and complement it with a personal vignette to ground their philosophical ideas in real-world experience. Doing so also provides a relatable entry point into the complexities of data governance and mismanagement of data.