Technological Accidents, Accidental Technologies

“Each period of technological development, with its instruments and machines, brings its share of specialized accidents” (Virilio). But a reversal could also be true: accidents produce technologies. In this publication we inquire into a technology of accidents, but also into the forms of power and authority that accidents materialize. What are the specific accidents of – call them what you wish: artificial intelligence, machine learning, enhanced pattern recognition – systems? What do accidents tell us about the technology that generates them? How are these technological failures tied up with the creation and recreation of economic rationalities? And do the events that come to mind really qualify as “accidents,” or are they rather extended forms of functionality, which may be undesired, but not dysfunctional in the way that the derailment of a train appears dysfunctional?