Conjuring the Algorithm: Magic, AI, and the Hidden Internet with Dr Shira Chess

Join us live for a conversation with Dr Shira Chess on the hidden entanglements between digital culture and the occult, inspired by her new book The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse.

From AI “demons” like Loab to meme magic, technopaganism, simulation theory, and the ritual logics of online life, Chess argues that the internet has always been shaped by esoteric frameworks. Drawing on media history and contemporary case studies, she shows how magical thinking is not an accidental metaphor but part of the architecture of digital discourse.

In this livestream, we will explore how belief, intention, and symbolic practice intersect with algorithms, platforms, and artificial intelligence, and what this means for politics, reality, and power in the twenty-first century. Bring your questions for what promises to be a sharp and thought-provoking discussion.

Shira Chess is an Associate Professor of Entertainment and Media Studies at the University of Georgia. She received her PhD in 2009 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and studies digital culture and video games. Her most recent book, The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse (The MIT Press, 2026) is available now. She is also currently co-authoring a history of the 90s counterculture tech magazine Mondo 2000 alongside the magazine's former editor-in-chief, R.U. Sirius. You can subscribe to her free Substack at https://unseeninternet.substack.com/.

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