Mathew Iantorno (he/him)

Mathew Iantorno stands in front of a projection screen delivering a lecture. The screen has pictures of mushrooms with the word "FORAGING" on top.

Thanks to everyone who showed up for my goofy mushroom talk at Trip Out! yesterday.🍄

CFP poster featuring WarGames reference.

STS folks, @alexross73.bsky.social & I are leading an open panel for 4S 2026 (in Toronto!) on games vs./as reactionary politics 🎮 WarGames references & re-imaginations of gamer capital galore!

Submit your 250-word abstracts via the @4sweb.bsky.social system & message us with any burning questions 🔥

📣A final reminder! The Trip Out! symposium is happening tomorrow at UTM. You can also join us tonight at the Centre for Culture and Technology for a pre-conference media experience.

Monday Night Seminar: Mathew Iantorno CCT Graduate Fellow Mathew Iantorno discusses the deployment of algorithmic systems within supermarket aisles and self-checkouts.

I'll be leading a Monday Night Seminar next week (March 9th) at the Centre for Culture and Technology sharing my research on algorithms in the grocery aisle. 🤖🛒 Registration is open now. www.eventbrite.ca/e/monday-nig...

As I sit on a train heading for Toronto, I'm once again sharing my starter pack for Canadian game studies folks!

🎮 Follow to learn more about cool games research.

❗Ping me if you think you should be on this (very inclusive) list.

Curating Psychedelic Media An evening discussion with curator Justin Jennings of the Royal Ontario Museum, considering their upcoming exhibition, Psychedelia.

You can also join us Wednesday evening at the Centre for Culture and Technology for "Curating Psychedelic Media," a discussion with ROM curator Justin Jennings. This will include a screen tour of the museum's upcoming exhibition, Psychedelics. www.eventbrite.com/e/curating-p...

A cluster of mushrooms with the word "FORAGING" superimposed on top.

A sneak preview:

Find me at Trip Out! next week, where I'll be presenting on AI, mushrooms, and other weirdness.🍄

Meta's AI Patent to Simulate Dead People Shows the Dangers of 'Spectral Labor' Researchers say Meta’s patent for simulating dead users could be a “turning point” in “AI resurrections.”

Researchers say Meta’s patent for simulating dead users could be a “turning point” in “AI resurrections.”

Toronto Superstore fined $10K for promoting imported food as Canadian | CBC News Canada’s food regulator has fined a Loblaw-owned store $10,000 for promoting imported food as a “Product of Canada.” The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the Toronto store used “maple leaf adverti...

Good. Always in favour of strict standards for food labelling and promotion. Carney's recent push towards unit price labelling was a good start; next, we need to have a discussion about digital ink price tags (pictured) and dynamic pricing. www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

Tomorrow! Starting from 10 EST — lounge and latch onto @michaeliantorno.com ENDLESS WINTERS!

#ROM Hack of #Earthbound by #Nintendo that captures the nostalgic essence of Michael’s game memories.

A large, teal and white vending machine sitting in the Monkey's Paw bookstore in Toronto. It reads the following: Monkey's Paw Biblio-Mat. Old & Unusual. Every Book a Surprise. No Two Alike. Collect all 112 Million Titles.

As a palate cleanser from yesterday, here is a very good vending machine from the Monkey's Paw bookstore in Toronto.

I have found truly the worst vending machine. Even worse than the pizza one.

It Turns Out Waymos Are Being Controlled by Workers in the Philippines During a Congressional hearing, Waymo's chief safety officer, Mauricio Peña, was grilled over the company's reliance on overseas workers.

Once again, it turns out “fully autonomous” means “a guy in the Philippines.”

Trip Out! Symposium. Media and Altered States, March 4th and 5th, 2026. University of Toronto Mississauga. Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology.

Join the ICCIT from March 4-5 for Trip Out!, our third annual graduate-faculty research symposium. This year, invited scholars and graduate students will consider human relationships to technologies of altered perception. www.utm.utoronto.ca/iccit/upcomi...

ANALYSIS | In Canadian politics, a new world order can't overshadow the price of groceries | CBC News The old world is dying and a new era of global instability beckons. The future of world affairs remains to be written. But first, the groceries.

There's a lot of fluff in this announcement, but the introduction of unit price labelling for grocery products is a big win for Canada. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Cover of "Notes Toward a Digital Workers' Inquiry" by the Capacitor Collective.

"Notes Toward a Digital Workers' Inquiry," published by Common Notions Press, includes first-hand accounts from the tech sector’s resurgent labour movement as artificial intelligence gains ground in every facet of our lives. www.commonnotions.org/buy/notes-to...

Julie Chen and Alessandro Delfanti Launch New Book on Digital Labour | Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology ICCIT professors Julie Chen and Alessandro Delfanti are celebrating the launch of their new book, Notes Toward a Digital Workers' Inquiry. This book was co-authored with other members of The Capacitor...

Join ICCIT professors Julie Chen and Alessandro Delfanti on February 12 for the launch of their new book, "Notes Toward a Digital Workers' Inquiry," co-authored with members of The Capacitor Collective. www.tickettailor.com/events/panit...

Mathew Iantorno, Monday Night Seminar. Led by CCT Graduate Fellow Mathew Iantorno, PhD Candidate in the Faculty of Information. His research explores how retail automation transforms labour practices, consumer responsibility, and public space. Throughout, he explores the long history of artificial intelligence, connecting modern digital platforms with vending machines, automats, and self-service stores. Details + registration TBA. Mar 9 6:00 pm.

And illustration of the coach house, an old building that serves as the headquarters of the Centre for Culture and Technology.

Pleased to announce that I'll be leading a Monday Night Seminar at the Centre for Culture and Technology this March. Stay tuned for more details. www.cultureandtech.utoronto.ca/events

Comic-Con Bans AI Art After Artist Pushback The famed convention's organizers have banned AI from the art show.

Good. It'll be interesting to see where other creator-focused platforms and venues land on the generative AI issue over the next few years... and if they actually enforce the rules. www.404media.co/comic-con-ba...

Hidden Labour: UTM Researcher Exposes Material Realities of Digital Capitalism | Research and Innovation

The career of Professor Julie Yujie Chen was recently celebrated in a full-length article published by
@utm-research.bsky.social. Her research projects, such as her recent role as co-editor of the Sage Handbook of Digital Labour, continue to enrich the ICCIT. www.utm.utoronto.ca/research-inn...

Looks like there's a snow day at U of T today (on all three campuses!). Everyone stay home and stay safe!❄️

I'm co-chairing the Society for Social Studies of Science @4sweb.bsky.social Conference in Toronto, Oct 2026. #STS #scipol #innovation

Theme: "TechnoPower • Technoscientific Futures".

Open panel submissions portal is open! ls!

Deadline: 2nd February 2026

www.4sonline.org/about_the_co...

Two office workers eating slices of watermelon. The caption reads "Watermelon: The Unofficial Emotional Support Fruit."

Did a dive into corporate micro-market social media posts today. It's a lot.

Jeffrey Boase, a faculty member at the ICCIT, will be having a book talk tonight at Victoria College. There's still time to sign up!

Canada's federal gov has a new program to bring researchers to Canada & my uni is starting an internal nomination process for chairs. If you are a full or associate prof working on AI/democracy/community engagement/environmental justice and you may be interested in moving to Canada, dm me

The Sage Handbook of Digital Labour, edited by my amazing supervisor Julie Yujie Chen, is out in the world! 📖✨

The cover of a Scholastic children's book simply titled "Internet". On the cover, children are surfing computer keyboard high in the atmosphere of the earth.

In what has inadvertently become an annual tradition, I've redesigned my website. 💻✨ mathewiantorno.com

Your periodic reminder that I host a Labour & Technology Scholars starter park. It's a good way to connect with people studying AI, platforms, unions, etc. if you're new to Bluesky. go.bsky.app/UMaa7T3

Amazon Is the World's Biggest Online Book Marketplace. It's Filled With AI Knockoffs

Generative AI has made Amazon’s knockoff problem more inescapable than ever. Authors tell Rolling Stone it’s leaving them frustrated— and the internet worse in the process.