Investigating the AI ecosystem: Dependencies, marketplaces, and the appification of AI
Public lecture by Fernando van der Vlist, University of Amsterdam, Anne Helmond, Utrecht University and Esther Weltevrede, University of Amsterdam.
This lecture presents recent and ongoing work on the evolving AI ecosystem, focusing on the political economy of cloud dependence, marketplaces, and AI apps. By examining AI platforms’ growing entanglements with data, compute, and infrastructure – and their deepening integration across industries and everyday life – we critically analyse their role in shaping new technological and economic dependencies, as well as emerging creative and development practices.
The first part introduces the broader trends and addresses the interdependence between AI and cloud infrastructure (or ‘Big AI’) and its consequences for the broader landscape. The second part explores the role of apps in embedding AI into everyday life and practice – a process we refer to as the appification of AI.
Fernando van der Vlist
Fernando van der Vlist is Assistant Professor in Critical Data & AI in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), where he also coordinates the Master’s programme in Cultural Data & AI. His research focuses on the critical study of digital platforms and apps, their ecosystems, data, and artificial intelligence (AI) in culture and society. He is PI of the NWO Veni-funded project ‘AI Power: A Critical Platform Analysis’ (2025–2029) and co-directs the App Studies Initiative. He is also affiliated with the UvA’s Digital Methods Initiative and the Public Data Lab.
Anne Helmond
Anne Helmond is Associate Professor of Media, Data & Society at Utrecht University. She co-directs the UU focus area ‘Governing the Digital Society’ which investigates the societal impact and governance of digital technologies. Her research places particular emphasis on platformization: the expansion of platforms across the web, the mobile ecosystem, AI technologies, and various societal domains. She examines the material and programmable data infrastructures that underpin and shape this process of platform expansion.
Esther Weltevrede
Esther Weltevrede is Associate Professor of New Media and Digital Culture in the Media Studies department at the University of Amsterdam. Her research examines the research affordances of digital media, with a particular focus on conceptual and methodological advancements in studying mobile apps, platforms, and the market dynamics of social media engagements. Esther is a founding member and co-director of the App Studies Initiative (ASI) and also co-coordinates the Digital Methods Initiative (DMI).
Space is limited. To register for the event please email Katie MacKinnon at kam@hum.ku.dk.