Cookies at War  

This keynote will address the role of Ad Tech (advertising technology)—the primary business model of the Internet—in expanding the capabilities of contemporary warfare, reinforcing a co-dependency that silently (yet incisively) blurs the boundaries between the military and the civilian sectors, posing significant threats to democratic processes by benefiting totalitarian modes of operating at a global scale.  

The talk will also discuss how the increasing militarization of digital space leverages the human body to advance the agendas of both capital and the military-industrial security complex, known as neoliberal militarism. These ideologies are subtly inscribed in the body through seemingly mundane actions like clicking and scrolling, turning the body into a site of militarization that enhances data extraction and social control, ultimately perpetuating the ideological and economic objectives of military neoliberalism.  

Interrupting this logic and reclaiming the body (and bodies) as a space of awareness and resistance is essential—not only to counter the rise of a global surveillance state fuelled by the growing entanglements between Ad Tech and the military sector, but also for understanding what it means to be human in the age of digital militarization. 

Judith Zoë Blijden is a public philosopher who investigates our intimate relationship with technology. She is the creator of platform and the podcast The Digital Period.  

In 2024 and 2025 Judith Zoë’s research focusses on the concept of vulnerability by taking a closer look at dating apps. A recurrent promise of our digital age is that we are better connected than ever. Dating apps go even a step further and promise to help you find love. In our digital age, mass data collection and pattern recognition are highly prominent. Our existence is often quantified and our behaviour is influenced by algorithms. These can be helpful and help us to discover music we love (Spotify’s Discover Weekly). However, algorithms can also prey on our vulnerabilities to nudge us in ways we don’t appreciate.  

Assuming we need to be vulnerable to authentically connect to each other, dating apps are an interesting space to investigate. Judith talks to app users, developers and researchers to examine whether there is space for vulnerability in online dating and if so, whether it is facilitated, celebrated and handled with care. Distance for Judith’s modus operandi, is that she uses participative methods to increase her understanding and engage with other users of a technological application. For this project Judith uses dating apps themselves to experience how they work, but also to discuss how they work with the people she finds through the application. Her central questions are: How do we perceive vulnerability and connection on dating apps? Do these spaces facilitate vulnerability or do they exploit it? And how does this specifically impact men?  

In her keynote she will discuss what dating apps look like for heterosexual people, what this means for vulnerability and how this is different for men and women. And, if you dare, she will invite you to experience how dating apps operate, in person.   

Her findings will be made available as the second season (2025) of her podcast series The Digital Period. The first season discussed autonomy and period apps.  

 Love on Demand: Algorithms and Automation on Dating Apps 

Humans crave intimacy, and dating apps are meeting this demand by using algorithms and automation to facilitate relationships. This panel will explore the ways that dating apps are automating our love lives, from personalized recommendation systems to the AI dating concierges and virtual companions of the future. We will discuss the concerns this raises (e.g., about privacy and convenience) as well as ways that automation might enhance our connections. What do we gain and what is at stake when we trust our hearts, minds, and data to platforms – and the corporate interests that govern them? 

Tag: Dating App; AI companions