Collect Your Own Small & Local Dataset, 2pm

Collect your own small & local dataset

This workshop discusses the large-scale data collection practices that are used within AI models and explores alternative approaches that are small, slow, and intimate. While conventional large-scale methods extract online information without consent and operate invisibly within algorithmic black boxes, this workshop demonstrates that datasets can be thoughtfully sourced, manageable, and non-extractive.

The workshop invites Galway community members to identify what they find significant about their city and take a short walk on the university campus, collecting data through photography, writing, drawing, sound recording, found objects, or lived experiences. These materials will form a collective, human-scale dataset about Galway, fostering discussion about how small yet diverse datasets can create meaning and tell stories about the places we inhabit, showing that data need not be massive commercial collections beyond human comprehension.

Access and Inclusion: This workshop seeks to be inclusive and accessible. We welcome diverse ways of participating and will endeavour to accommodate mobility, sensory, and communication needs. Please contact A.Okudan1@universityofgalway.ie with any requirements to support your participation.

What to Bring:

• Rain gear (the walk is outdoors and weather-dependent)

Location: The workshop begins at the Centre for Creative Technologies Studio, includes a short walk through the University campus, and returns to the Centre at the end.

Duration: 1 hr 15minutes

Age - Open to All