Exploring Critical Spatial Perspectives on Data and AI
As an Associate Professor at Georgia Tech, I teach and conduct research on how data and AI infrastructures shape and are shaped by their settings.
My current book project reframes data as “points of orientation“ in the world, rather than simply representations of it. This research builds upon a wide variety of creative and technical projects that serve as instruments of inquiry: community mapmaking platforms (Map Room/Map Spot); data physicalizations (Turbidity Wall); augmented-reality interventions (Chromatic Lens); and architectural-scale installations (Plasmatic Mirror).
My previous book, All Data Are Local (MIT Press, Spring 2019), explains how to analyze “data settings,” not simply data sets. It is available to read through MIT Open Access here.
In addition to my faculty role, I am the executive director of the Interdisciplinary Media Arts Center, which fosters projects and pathways for researchers, students, and practitioners who want to make expressive use of innovative technologies.
Recent News (Updated 2/10/2026)
[2025 Spring) Interviewed (along with Dr. Sylvia Janicki) on “Lost in the Stacks: The Research Library Rock’n’roll Radio Show” for Episode 669: Scholarship in Place.
[2025 Fall] Received the Infrastructure Award from the Society for Social Studies of Science for “DigitalSTS,” along with collaborators David Ribes, Janet Vertesi, Carl DiSalvo, Laura Forlano, Steven J. Jackson, Daniela K. Rosner, and Hanna Rose Shell.
[2025 Fall] “Professor Yanni Loukissas Is Helping Us See Data Differently,” by Neema Tavakolian. Tech Square News coverage of recent research projects.
[2025 Summer] Interviewed on “The Policy Viz Podcast” with @jschwabish for “Data Are Local: Context, Power, and Storytelling.”
[2025 Summer] Awarded an NSF Grant from the Program in Science, Technology, and Society, with co-PI Richmond Wong to develop a Spatial STS Field School for place-based digital scholarship.
If you are interested in learning more about my work, please send me an email.