Recently Google introduced a feature in its search engine that algorithmically creates summaries of one’s search results. Though it could be viewed as a useful tool, researcher Anna Beers argues this feature’s unsuitable safeguards allow for the spread of disinformation. In this essay, she examines how these algorithmically created search summaries introduce disinformation from biased and anti-trans sources on searches about transgender identity.

Over a decade after the introduction of cryptocurrencies, these have failed to gain prominence amongst the wider public, though they’re popular within niche groups. Yet, despite their widespread use, this alternative currency has had wide ranging repercussions. Scholar Peter Howson examines how cryptocurrency impacts the environment and Global South communities, as well as its links to political extremism.

Meet Julián Posada, one of our 2024–2026 Just Tech Fellows. He is a sociologist and information scientist whose work lies at the intersection of labor, technology, and inequality, focusing on labor rights and community justice in technology development. His current research explores the experiences of outsourced workers who generate, annotate, and verify data for artificial intelligence.

In this interview, Just Tech Program Assistant An Doan and Just Tech Editor Rodrigo Ugarte spoke with 2024 Just Tech Fellow Petra Kuppers about her Just Tech-supported project Planting Disabled Futures, her first installation, the impetus behind her project, and what participants will experience when they enter her virtual reality world.