Speculative Computation w/ M. Beatrice Fazi & Patricia Reed

How does computation reshape “worlds” and bring about new modes of thinking? For this upcoming Loops session, we bring together M. Beatrice Fazi and Patricia Reed for a conversation on computation, abstraction, and speculative thought. Beatrice will discuss the specificity of computational abstraction, refusing both the view that computation captures everything and the view that computation means nothing on its own. Through the case of large language models (LLMs), she will examine how these systems synthesize representations into structural unity, making worlds that collide with ours. Patricia will approach AI through the technical metaphor of ‘edge-detection’ in epistemological terms. Drawing on the problem of ‘epistemological obstacles’ and theories of model-based reasoning, she will reflect on how AI opens encounters with other species of cognition, unsettling given conventions of thought beyond a strictly instrumental understanding of AI. Due to the unexpected shutdown of the TU Berlin main building on Friday, May 8, this Loops session cannot take place in the New Practice studio as usual. We are, however, happy to announce that we were able to find an alternative location in Berlin to host the long-planned event on short notice. Due to limited seating capacities, physical attendance will be limited to invited guests, but please join us online – as usual, the Loops session will be live streamed and recorded! M. Beatrice Fazi is a philosopher working on computation, technology, and media. Her research focuses on the ontologies and epistemologies produced by contemporary technoscience, particularly in relation to issues in artificial intelligence and computing. She is Associate Professor at the University of Sussex (UK), the author of Contingent Computation: Abstraction, Experience, and Indeterminacy in Computational Aesthetics (2018), and co-author of Digital Theory (2025). Patricia Reed is a theorist, artist and designer. She is Head of Critical Inquiry Lab (MA) at Design Academy Eindhoven (NL), and Lecturer at Folkwang University in Sound Practice Research (DE). Reed was co-author of the Xenofeminist Manifesto as Laboria Cuboniks, and a compilation of selected essays entitled Cosmovisiones de otro mundo was released in 2025.