{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "content": "---\ntitle: \"Congrats Dr. Kieran Browne\"\ndescription: \"Celebrating Kieran Browne's PhD graduation and his thesis on the neurological metaphor in deep learning.\"\ntags:\n  - research\n  - ai\n---\n\nimport Picture from \"@/components/Picture.astro\";\n\nLast December [Kieran](https://kieranbrowne.com) graduated---very exciting for\nall concerned.\n\n<Picture\n  file=\"posts/ben-kieran-phd-graduation.webp\"\n  alt=\"Ben and Kieran in full academic dress at the ANU graduation ceremony in December 2022\"\n/>\n\nHis thesis, _Neurological Metaphor in Deep Learning: Issues and Alternatives_,\nis\n[available online through the ANU Library](https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/274243).\nIt's a really interesting mix of insightful scholarship and practice-based\ndesign interventions. In other words, he has interesting things to say _and_ he\nbuilt interesting things (some of which are available online).\n\nHere's the abstract:\n\n> Representations of deep learning---discursive, historical and\n> diagrammatic---are structured by a neurological metaphor that overstates a\n> likeness to the brain and disguises other ways of understanding the\n> technology. These neurological representations muddle the crucial public\n> debate even as deep learning is applied in high-stakes applications,\n> particularly in institutions of social and political power. This thesis draws\n> on historical sources and contemporary literature to trace the development and\n> contemporary expression of the neurological metaphor in deep learning\n> discourse; particularly with respect to the field's terminology, the telling\n> of its history, and the drawing of its diagrams. In the manuscript and in\n> three documented practice-based works, I propose alternative metaphors for\n> deep learning---divination, surveillance and memory---to highlight\n> sociotechnical concerns posed by the technology. As a highly interdisciplinary\n> project, this thesis applies a range of methods drawn variously from digital\n> humanities, discourse analysis, human-centred computing, visual arts and\n> design, and deep learning itself. The traditional scholarship and\n> practice-based aspects of the thesis are situated in contemporary debates of\n> AI bias and interpretability, and the role of deep learning in systems of\n> power.\n",
  "createdAt": "2026-05-13T23:14:46.613Z",
  "description": "Celebrating Kieran Browne's PhD graduation and his thesis on the neurological metaphor in deep learning.",
  "path": "/blog/2023/01/26/congrats-dr-kieran-browne",
  "publishedAt": "2023-01-26T00:00:00.000Z",
  "site": "at://did:plc:tevykrhi4kibtsipzci76d76/site.standard.publication/self",
  "tags": [
    "research",
    "ai"
  ],
  "textContent": "Celebrating Kieran Browne's PhD graduation and his thesis on the neurological metaphor in deep learning.",
  "title": "Congrats Dr. Kieran Browne"
}