Fri
13
Feb
Seminars and Conferences
The future of prediction
New event of the ‘Theseus Lecture’ cycle, promoted by the Theseus Study Center at Politecnico di Torino, a space for interdisciplinary discussion dedicated to understanding technological transformations through dialogue between applied sciences, humanities, and social sciences.
The conference, entitled The future of prediction, will be held on Friday, 13 February 2026, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., with Elena Esposito, University Bielefeld and University of Bologna. The conference will be presented by Vera Tripodi, professor of Ethics of Technology at Politecnico di Torino.
Abstract
The algorithmic turn of prediction, connected with Big Data and Machine Learning, presents an exciting and urgent challenge for the social sciences. Recent advances in digital forecasting claim to provide a predictive score for individual persons or singular events, thereby introducing a new way to manage the uncertainty of the future. But knowing the future in advance is not only advantageous. In fact, for our society, uncertainty about the future is also a resource. Since modernity, with the support of probability calculus various social institutions in different domains have developed means of coping with ignorance of the future by starting with the one thing that we all share – uncertainty. What happens to the stabilized forms of management of the future when their first resource – shared uncertainty – is missing? The presentation is based on a set of theory-driven empirical studies on precision medicine, personalized insurance, and predictive policing, that show how algorithmic predictions do not replace probabilistic models but introduce novel modes of intervention.
Speaker: Elena Esposito, University Bielefeld and University of Bologna
Biography
Elena Esposito is Professor of Sociology at the University Bielefeld and the University of Bologna. A leading figure in sociological systems theory, she has published extensively on the theory of society, media theory, memory theory and the sociology of financial markets. Her current research on algorithmic prediction is supported by a five-year Advanced Grant from the European Research Council. Her latest book Artificial Communication: How Algorithms Produce Social Intelligence has been published in 2022 by MIT Press.
The conference will be held in Italian.
An aperitif will be served at the end of the Lecture
The conference, entitled The future of prediction, will be held on Friday, 13 February 2026, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., with Elena Esposito, University Bielefeld and University of Bologna. The conference will be presented by Vera Tripodi, professor of Ethics of Technology at Politecnico di Torino.
Abstract
The algorithmic turn of prediction, connected with Big Data and Machine Learning, presents an exciting and urgent challenge for the social sciences. Recent advances in digital forecasting claim to provide a predictive score for individual persons or singular events, thereby introducing a new way to manage the uncertainty of the future. But knowing the future in advance is not only advantageous. In fact, for our society, uncertainty about the future is also a resource. Since modernity, with the support of probability calculus various social institutions in different domains have developed means of coping with ignorance of the future by starting with the one thing that we all share – uncertainty. What happens to the stabilized forms of management of the future when their first resource – shared uncertainty – is missing? The presentation is based on a set of theory-driven empirical studies on precision medicine, personalized insurance, and predictive policing, that show how algorithmic predictions do not replace probabilistic models but introduce novel modes of intervention.
Speaker: Elena Esposito, University Bielefeld and University of Bologna
Biography
Elena Esposito is Professor of Sociology at the University Bielefeld and the University of Bologna. A leading figure in sociological systems theory, she has published extensively on the theory of society, media theory, memory theory and the sociology of financial markets. Her current research on algorithmic prediction is supported by a five-year Advanced Grant from the European Research Council. Her latest book Artificial Communication: How Algorithms Produce Social Intelligence has been published in 2022 by MIT Press.
The conference will be held in Italian.
An aperitif will be served at the end of the Lecture