ABOUT#
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DELFI SOL PANDIANI#
Delfi (Sol Martinez) Pandiani [they//them] is an academic and creative researcher studying, playing with, and breaking codified binaries. Their research explores how abstract cultural concepts — especially identity, toxicity, and vulnerability — are computationally modeled in datafied environments. They audit, develop, and critique AI systems, aiming to surface new ways of thinking about power, representation, and technological change. They also maintain an artistic practice, especially painting, mixed media, and creative writing.
Delfi is Assistant Professor of Cultural Data Analysis at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), appointed across the Department of Media Studies and the Institute for Logic, Language, and Computation (ILLC). They co-coordinate the Cultural Data & AI (CDAI) track of the Master’s in Media Studies at the UvA, which combines critical inquiry with data science.
They are co-founder of the Queer and Feminist Informatics Network (QFIN), and have been developing creative workshops that combine computational experimentation and critical theory with artistic practice — such as adversarial drag against facial and gender surveillance, and other interventions that play with, challenge, and attempt to break codified binaries (male/female, public/private, toxic/safe, white/colored, nature/culture).
Previously, Delfi was a post-doctoral researcher at the Human-Centered Data-Analytics (HCDA) group at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in Amsterdam. They have a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering (DISI) and a M.A. in Digital Humanities and Digital Knowledge (DHDK) from the Università di Bologna (Italy), and a Bachelor’s degree in Human Evolutionary Biology (HEB) (summa cum laude) with a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies from Harvard University (USA).
EDUCATION#
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| Period | Institution | Degree | Thesis | Focus areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–2024 | Università di Bologna | Ph.D. Computer Science & Engineering | Mind the Gap(s): Cognitive-Inspired AI for High-Level Visual Sensemaking. Towards Abstract Concept Image Classification | Explainable AI, Knowledge Engineering, Computer Vision, Digital Humanities |
| 2018–2020 | Università di Bologna | M.A. Digital Humanities & Digital Knowledge | Semantic & Interactive Technologies for Civic Education: Ancient Classical Polychromy as a Case Study | Semantic Technologies, AR, Civic Education, Chromophobia, White Supremacy |
| 2013–2017 | Harvard University | B.A. Human Evolutionary Biology (summa cum laude) | Reconciliation in Homo sapiens: Behavioral Perspectives on the Human Post-Conflict Period | Human Behavioral Coding, Data Analysis, Pro-sociality, Primate Behavior |
ACADEMIC BIO (150 words)#
Delfi Sol (Martinez) Pandiani [they//them] is Assistant Professor of Cultural Data Analysis at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) and the Department of Media Studies. Their work explores how abstract social concepts—such as identity, toxicity, and vulnerability—are negotiated and computationally modeled in datafied environments. Drawing on critical AI studies, computer vision, digital humanities, and media and queer theory, they specialize in auditing, developing, and critiquing AI systems. They challenge binary assumptions like public/private and nature/culture, aiming to surface new ways of thinking about power, representation, and technological change. At the UvA, Delfina co-coordinates the MA track Cultural Data & AI, which combines critical inquiry with data science, and co-founded the Queer and Feminist Informatics Network (QFin). They hold a PhD in Computer Science, an MA in Digital Humanities from the University of Bologna, and a BA in Human Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University.