Hector Postigo, Ph.D

Associate Professor, Klein College of communication
temple University

contact : hector[dot]postigo[at] gmail[dot]com

My research focuses on new digital media and cultural production both large and small. What counts as “new digital media” is always changing so my research and teaching are either chasing it or trying to get ahead of it. I hold degrees in Science & Technology Studies and Physiology and Neurobiology.

Specifically, I try to anticipate emerging shifts in information technologies, the creative industries, AI, user behaviour, intellectual property, privacy and data markets. Currently, I’m focusing Open AI’s GTP-2/3 as well as BERT and other Transformer variants, using them to generate original works in music and writing, and predicting how they may change the creative industries markets by facilitating AI assisted or new creative production.

Vita at a glance

education background

Ph.D. Science and Technology, Studies Rensselear Polytechnic Institute
MS Physiology and Neurobiology, University of Connecticut

Publications

2000- 2020 Research predicting platforms and business models like Twitch, YouTube Gaming, Steam and UGC DLC

- Research on the market value of work from early fan communities that make modifications to popular PC games; conducted 2000
- What motivates free labor in gamer culture and the creative industries; conducted 2004 and 2018
- Study of Video Game Commentary on Youtube– Research conducted 2010-2012, published 2014

Research on AOL, predicting contentious elements of the the gig-economy:

- community leader gig-work from volunteer communities ; Research conducted 2000 published 2003
- labor disputes, unionization and the department of labor; Research conducted 2005, published 2009

Book on hacking, networks and challenges to intellectual property regimes. The book is available via MIT Press with a CC license.

Co-edited volume on international security/privacy industry and its branding and marketing practices. Funded by the European Commission 7th. Available from Palgrave Macmillan Press, Managing Privacy Through Accountability.

Experience

Content as Data and Data as Content: Copyright Issues in Machine Learning for the US Copyright Society
GPT-2 and GPT-3: Content –> AI Models–> New Creative Content: Questions for Copyright Juris Prudence. Present for the Intellectual Property Law Institute of the PA Bar
Visiting fellow Yale University School of Law’s Information Society Project from 2015-2017
Research affiliate Rutgers School of Law Institute for Policy and Law
Annenberg Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Advanced Study of Social and Behavioral Sciences 2017-2018.
Visiting researcher at Microsoft Research New England

In the News and Around the Web

Google Talks: How Video Gamers Invented New Entertainment Genres

My public talks tend to be interactive, so please don’t expect too much formality from me.

Play Video

You Can’t Spell Creative Without A.I.

This article in the NYT mentions my work with natural language processing and music generating AI.

Podcast: Hector Postigo, “Cultural Production and Social Media as Capture Platforms: How the Matrix Has You”

Available for consulting/speaking engagements and press inquiries given reasonable lead time.
Detailed vita available upon request