Florence Chee on datafication, game development and technocultural ethics

In this episode of Disrupted Futures, Dr. Radhika Mittal speaks with Dr. Florence Chee, Associate Professor of Digital Communication and Director of the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy at Loyola University Chicago, about what happens when more and more of our everyday lives become datafied.

Together, they explore how digital games offer a window into wider transformations in our digital lives: from data collection and surveillance to questions of privacy, consent, power, and the growing influence of AI.

Florence invites us to look beyond what technologies can do and ask what they should do. As our leisure, work, interactions, and everyday habits become sources of data, she argues that meaningful informed consent and attention to power imbalances are essential — particularly when vulnerable and marginalised communities are affected.

From free-to-play games and predictive analytics to AI, smart cities, and even the apps we use to buy our morning coffee, this conversation asks how we can put ethics at the heart of technological development rather than treating it as an afterthought — and how communities can play a greater role in shaping the digital futures they inhabit.

🎧 Have a listen, share your reflections, and join the conversation!

In this episode:

• How digital games became spaces for data collection and surveillance
• Why informed consent matters in our everyday digital lives
• Datafication, predictive analytics, and the rise of AI
• How data-driven technologies can reinforce existing inequalities
• Why designing for marginalised and vulnerable communities benefits us all
• How communities can challenge power imbalances in the digital ecosystem
• Why ethics needs to be built into technology from the beginning

#DigitalEthics #Datafication #AIethics #TechnologyEthics #DigitalGames #DataPrivacy #Surveillance #InformedConsent #DigitalCulture #AI

Guest: Dr. Florence Chee, Associate Professor of Digital Communication and Director of the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy at Loyola University Chicago
Host: Dr. Radhika Mittal, ESDiT Programme Director and Impact Lead
Produced by: Stella Pekiaridi, ESDiT Communications Officer | University of Twente Podcast Studio