In The Loop May 2025
10 minutes read | First published: May 27, 2025
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🤖 Be the First to Pre-Order the “AI & Us” Pop-Up Package and Help Us Shape the Future of AI Literacy.
Pre-Order Now: "AI & Us" Pop-Up Package – What Everyone Needs to Know 🤖
In 2025, public interest sectors face shrinking funding and rising costs, even as demand for accessible digital literacy grows. We’re exploring more sustainable ways to share our work, allowing us to stay rooted in the public good.
We’re excited to introduce a new step in that journey: pre-orders are now open for AI & Us, our upcoming portable exhibition on critical digital literacy and AI. This pop-up package, ideal for a variety of set-ups, spaces, and events, includes a set of posters, interactive displays and activities, and workshop materials. It explores what AI is (and isn’t), how it affects our lives, and what we can do about it. Pre-order before 30 June 2025 for the early bird rate of €1,000 and receive:
Interested? Email us at events@tacticaltech.org to pre-order! More information
Tech and Crises 💬
Launching Digitized Divides, a series that reveals the trade-offs of a tech-dependent world
We are proud to introduce Digitized Divides, a new multi-part essay series that takes a hard look at the hidden costs of our increasingly tech-driven world. This series asks difficult questions and surfaces uncomfortable truths, from the environmental and human toll of extractivism to the invisible labor behind artificial intelligence, from algorithmic bias and surveillance to the material realities powering our online lives.
These essays reflect first-hand analysis, grounded insights, and shared reflections from our work and conversations with communities around the world. Read the full series.
“We talk about AI as if it were a divine gift”: An interview with Tactical Tech co-founders by Publix
"We cannot wait for people in decision-making positions to change the system. We need to ensure that people aren’t just confronted with tech problems but have the tools to navigate them and engage in the conversation." In this interview, Tactical Tech co-founders Stephanie Hankey and Marek Tuszynski speak with Maria Exner, director of Publix, about the key challenges at the intersection of technology, information, and democracy and why everyone should 'speak fluent tech' to understand what companies do with our data. Read the full interview
Digital Influence & democracy 🗳️
50 professionals worldwide participated in our Investigating the Influence Industry in Elections Mastercourse 2025
From 19–23 May 2025, Tactical Tech hosted the Investigating the Influence Industry in Elections mastercourse: a week-long online mastercourse that equipped 50 journalists, researchers, and civil society investigators worldwide with the tools and critical lens to uncover how political actors and private firms use data-driven tech to shape public opinion and election outcomes. Through interactive sessions, participants honed investigation techniques, exchanged practices, and examined real-world cases of political influence, misinformation, and accountability. Want to learn more? Explore our Influence Industry Learning Hub
Tech, media, & investigative journalism 🔍
[Grants for investigative stories covering the EU💰] Deadline: 30 June 2025.
Journalists currently working in or publishing stories covering the EU, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) call is for you! Apply for the programme that offers grants of €1,400 for the production of their investigative stories and mentoring support from BIRN editors/mentors in producing stories. Apply here
EVENTS THAT EMPOWER YOU 💡
⚡ In-person workshop in Berlin! Investigating corporate supply chains in fashion and tech using Open Data. May 28, 2025, 18:30 - 20:00. Publix, Berlin.
The fashion and tech industries are full of untold stories: hidden suppliers, opaque data, and unanswered questions. Join this session to learn practical tools for uncovering hidden stories, mapping corporate accountability, and navigating key datasets, from supplier lists and facility records to investigative findings and corporate disclosures. Speakers: Auréliane Fröhlich and Lucía Ixtacuy from Wikirate, moderated by Jasmine Erkan from Tactical Tech. Register here.
🗯️ Upcoming panel: Ahead of the AI Misinformation Curve – Let’s talk about visual AI-powered misinformation. May 30, 2025, 13:00 - 14:30. Online.
How can we navigate a world where AI-generated images blur the line between real and fake? Join us for a free online panel exploring visual AI literacy: how to spot AI-generated images, understand how they’re made, and use them responsibly. Speakers include Marek Tuszynski, Ana Salinas from Tactical Tech, and experts from Full Fact and the National Literacy Trust. Register here.
🧠 Full Stack Journalism: Can independent journalism truly be sovereign without owning its tech stack? A design thinking workshop. June 4, 2025. , 16:00 - 18:00. Publix, Berlin.
Join this fast-paced Design Thinking workshop to explore collaborative solutions for independent journalism, hosted by Are We Europe as part of the Full Stack Journalism project. Register here.
💡 Digital and media literacy one-day training for educators. June 11 and 14, 2025. Prague, Czech Republic.
Join our training on artificial intelligence and the impact of technology on society. As teens increasingly turn to the internet for learning and connection, it’s vital to help them ask critical questions about tech’s effects on their lives, communities, and the planet. How can educators guide them to better understand the digital world? Register here.
📱 Hide or Share – The Limits of Privacy Exhibition and workshops. May 31, 2025 – May 31, 2026. FEZ Berlin, Germany (DE).
The Future Lab at FEZ Berlin presents Hide or Share – The Limits of Privacy, an exhibition for youth aged 13+. It explores what should be public or private and how technology influences these choices, with a focus on work, the environment, the body, and the mind. Featuring self-created content and Tactical Tech’s educational posters, the exhibition offers diverse perspectives. Workshops available: Surveillance in Public Spaces, Democracy in the Classroom: Your Voice Counts, and My Phone and Me – The Global Impact of Phone Use.
OUR CREATIVE EXHIBITIONS AROUND THE WORLD 🖼️
➡️ The Glass Room in the Fake News exhibition. El valor de la información. Until July 31, 2025. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Tactical Tech's The Glass Room: Misinformation Edition is featured in the Fake News exhibition, showcasing artworks that explore various types of misinformation and ways to combat its spread. Find out more
➡️ Supercharged by AI at AGLIS 2025 Conference. June 11 - 13, 2025. Kalabaka, Greece. This year’s theme, “Democracy of Knowledge and the Threats of Misinformation,” explores the vital role of libraries and information centers in ensuring access to accurate information amid the growing spread of misinformation. It examines how trust in libraries can help counter false narratives—especially in the age of social media. Our exhibition Supercharged by AI, translated into Greek by AGLIS, will be on display at Kalabaka Library during the conference. Find out more
TACTICAL TECH: TRAINING AND ADVANCING THE SKILLS OF COMMUNITIES WORLDWIDE 🧠
Tactical Tech's team led conversations, hosted workshops and sessions, and participated in various events to advance knowledge and build the capacities of individuals and communities to address technology-related challenges. Here’s a recap of last month’s events:
➡️ Louise Hisayasu, Creative Lead Producer at Tactical Tech, gave a talk during the Coalition Building in Times of AI residency by Dreaming Beyond AI in Barcelona. She shared the evolution of The Glass Room project, focusing on co-creation and scalable impact. The residency brought together visionary artists exploring critical and constructive approaches to AI future. More information
➡️ At the Palestinian Digital Activism Forum 2025, Tactical Tech’s Associate Programme Director, Safa Ghnaim, joined the session “Beyond the Algorithm: Fighting Censorship and Bias in Digital Spaces.” Alongside international experts, she explored how algorithmic bias, misinformation, and platform policies affect expression, especially during times of conflict, and how communities are resisting digital repression. Find out more
➡️ In Brazil, Safa Ghnaim also spoke at the 3º Encontro Internacional de Educação Midiática, an international event focused on advancing media education and digital literacy for all age groups. She contributed to discussions on public policy, digital autonomy, and fostering critical thinking in an age of misinformation and surveillance. Watch recording session
➡️ On the podcast Beyond the Shelves, Louise Hisayasu from Tactical Tech and Maria De Brasdefer from The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions -IFLA, joined Vicky and Alanna from the International Association of University Libraries to discuss the Supercharged by AI exhibition. The episode explored the motivations behind the project, how it has reached over 50 libraries across Europe, and the role of libraries in supporting digital inclusion and literacy in the age of AI. Listen to the podcast episode
WHAT WE ARE READING 🔍
- [📰 ARTICLE] ‘Alexa, what do you know about us?’ What I discovered when I asked Amazon to tell me everything my family’s smart speaker had heard. [Go to The Guardian.]
- [💬 OPINION] Is AI Enhancing Education or Replacing It? [Go to Chronicle.]
- [📄 REPORT] 2025 RDR Index: Big Tech Edition. [Go to Ranking Digital Rights.]
- [🎤 PODCAST] Creationism, AI, and techno-oligarchy: Understanding the new age of pseudoscience. [Go to Flux.]
- [📚 BOOK] Empire of AI - Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI by Karen Hao. [Go to Penguin Random House.]
- [📰 ARTICLE] Mexican Activists Are Building Digital Defenses Against Big Tech Colonialism. [Go to Truthout.]
- [🎥 VIDEO] What happened when a crypto scam swept over a sleepy town in the Caucasus by Chai Khana Media. [Go to Aeon.]
- [📚 BOOK] Community Data: Creative Approaches to Empowering People with Information. [Go to the website of the book.]
- [🎤 PODCAST] Cookie Bytes: a podcast presented by resented by 11-year-old twins Max and Sonny focused on unraveling the complexities of AI and technology, including topics like Data Detoxing and reducing one's value to tech companies. [Go to RTE.]
- [📰 ARTICLE] AI, impunity, and ‘authoritarian media control’ in Southeast Asia. [Go to Global Voices.]
- [💡 JOURNAL ARTICLE] Beyond Project Cybersyn: Tracing the Influence of Stafford Beer Projects and Ideas in Latin America. [[Go to Springer.]](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11213-025-09717-2)
- [🔍 APP] Relax…it's only the climate crisis. Oilwell is a wellness app to help you embrace climate chaos, created. [Go to Oilwell.]
- [📰 ARTICLE] Do Wi-Fi Routers Track Your Browsing? I Read 30,000 Words of Privacy Policies to Find Out. [Go to CNET.]
- [🔍 REPORT] Journalism Zero: How Platforms and Publishers are Navigating AI. [Go to Columbia Journalism Review.]
- [📰 ARTICLE] We did the math on AI’s energy footprint. Here’s the story you haven’t heard. [Go to MIT Technology Review.]
- [📚 CODE] Children & AI Design Code. [Go to 5Rights Foundation.]
- [📰 ARTICLE] Telegram Gave Authorities Data on More than 20,000 Users. [Go to 404Media.]
- [✍️ ESSAY] Refusing Tech Fascism. [Go to Error 406.]
- [📰 ARTICLE] Company Regrets Replacing All Those Pesky Human Workers With AI, Just Wants Its Humans Back. [Go to Futurism.]
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