Short abstract:

Computing and algorithmic capabilities have been in rapid development to meet urgent decarbonisation demands. We unpack the multiplicity of algorithm associations in generating knowledge and innovation by drawing upon research conducted in Taiwan and Australia.

Long abstract:

There has been an intensifying development of computing and algorithmic capabilities in response to urgent demands of decarbonising social and industrial activities, principally in the pursuit of better understanding the changing climate and developing plans for effective decarbonisation. From the UK Royal Society’s emphasis on ‘climate computing’ to many national net-zero strategies featuring artificial intelligence, algorithms have become a critical actor in shaping how plans and strategies are drawn in anticipation of uncertain climatic and societal futures and with hopes of reducing carbon emissions in the meantime. However, questions pertaining to what these algorithms are, what associations they have established with others and what consequences have emerged to facilitate or discourage decarbonisation initiatives, have rarely been asked and not been adequately explored. The main purpose of the paper is to make explicit the multiplicity of algorithm associations. We investigate the emergent and diverse ways in which algorithms act (not necessarily in tandem) with other actors, lives, environments, institutions, infrastructures and decarbonisation strategies and the consequences arising from these associations. Drawing on interviews with scientists and engineers in the academic and public/private research institutions in Taiwan and Australia, we unpack how algorithms have been assembled differently in the process of generating knowledge and innovation for transitioning towards a decarbonised future. We pay specific attention to how the multiplicity of algorithm associations sheds light on the uneven paces of decarbonisation in different societal domains.