I define “the public” as a single indefinite entity of humans that can mingle with other publics in complicated structures hard to untangle; it is a confusing thing, as human relationships are often messy. For example, I, as one out of many, wrestle with identifying with the individualistic American culture of “You do you” and “make your voice heard” versus the collective Asian-American culture of saving face and filial piety for our elders, as well the various millions of nuanced voices on the Internet. While it appears that we have freedom with the concept that we can explore infinitely with a click of the mouse, our decisions and behaviors are influenced by the society’s unspoken rules and limits, which we have internalized. 

According to Online Etymology Dictionary (https://www.etymonline.com/word/public), the origin of the word public is extensive, from its first definition as ‘”open to general observation” from Old French  public (c. 1300) and directly from Latin publicus “of the people; of the state; done for the state,”’.

“The commons”, depending on a specific public’s perspective, is seen as a tragedy, a solution, or a site for political and social contest. For example, the public of the elite rich may view the commons as a solution to their problems. Because it has been so difficult to manage the commons as a result of the existence of a multitude of publics, along with the disparity of resources, they can exploit the underregulation by going through loopholes with their abundance of time and money. 

Personally, I view “the commons” as a tragedy and a site for political and social contest. I agree with Hardin’s point of view in which the world has a finite amount of resources, and the human nature of prioritizing one’s own survival will harm many. For example, we are complicit in allowing Amazon to keep developing their AI with AWS machine learning, but at the expense of the hidden laborers who are underpaid, their bodies susceptible to unsafe workplace conditions and chemicals.  

Within the CUNY Graduate Center itself, there are many different publics with their own interests in mind. When we walk around these halls, we see paper handouts calling for the reclamation of the Commons – regarding the student taking back of the 8th floor Dining Commons from current bureaucratic regulations set by Graduate Center President Robin Garrell and others. This is the epitome of the commons being the site for political and social clashing. 

I recently visited the MoMA and came across Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler’s Anatomy of an AI System, (https://anatomyof.ai/) a data visualization that exposes the components that make a single Amazon Echo smart speaker possible. Before seeing this project, I was unaware of how many unnamed people were being exploited to conveniently bring a speaker onto one’s doorstep/mailbox. Such a visualization is an example of bringing awareness into the public’s consciousness, which is an important first step that Public Interest Technology was/is/will be working through.