Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group %28asrg%29 ✨ 👑

Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group (ASRG)

The Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group (ASRG) studies how algorithms can be subverted, manipulated, or weaponized—intentionally or inadvertently—to cause harm to systems, users, and societies. ASRG’s work sits at the intersection of security, AI ethics, adversarial machine learning, and socio-technical policy. This post outlines ASRG’s core focus, research directions, real-world relevance, ethical considerations, and recommended actions for practitioners and policymakers.

Mutual Aid: The group advocates for solidarity and communal constraints on technology rather than individual consumer behavior. 🌍 Impact and Reception algorithmic sabotage research group %28asrg%29

• Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) Interventions: Much of the group's related research focuses on the "gig economy." They have analyzed platforms like Amazon MTurk, where humans perform micro-tasks to train AI. The "sabotage" here involves workers organizing to disrupt the platform's efficiency or artists creating tools to visualize the human labor behind the "artificial" intelligence.
• The "Sabotage" Publication: A significant output of this research is the book "Algorithmic Sabotage: The Ruse of the Algorithm" (published by Onomatopee), edited by Sebastian Schmieg. This volume compiles essays and artistic projects that expand on the theory, moving from the historical roots of industrial sabotage to modern digital resistance.
• Workshops and Pedagogy: ASRG frequently conducts workshops where participants are taught to "think like an algorithm" in order to subvert it. This involves playful experiments, such as creating "useless" AI models or designing content that purposefully confuses content moderation bots.

Abstract

As algorithmic systems govern ever-larger swaths of human activity—from credit scoring and judicial sentencing to supply chain logistics and social cohesion—the failure modes of these systems have shifted from stochastic error to deterministic exploitation. The Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group (ASRG) posits that traditional "alignment" and "robustness" research fails to account for a critical variable: malicious compliance as a defensive strategy. This paper introduces the first formal taxonomy of algorithmic sabotage, distinguishing between internal gradient attacks (data poisoning, reward hacking) and external systemic friction (adversarial triggering, latency bombs). We argue that in an era of mandatory AI arbitration, targeted, reversible algorithmic sabotage is not vandalism but a legitimate form of non-violent protest and systems auditing. Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) Interventions: Much of the

The ASRG, acting without approval (as they always do), deployed a low-cost NEE intervention. They rented a small fishing boat, attached a $300 AIS transponder broadcasting a fake identity—"MSC ALGORITHMUS"—and programmed it to loiter at the entrance of the shipping channel moving in a random, zigzag pattern at precisely 4.2 knots. Abstract As algorithmic systems govern ever-larger swaths of

Academic Collaboration: Mentioned in contexts like the "Resisting AI Solutionism" workshops and academic "Monthly Reads" lists.

: The group maintains its primary research and theoretical output here, including their collaborative writing and technical contexts. Core Concepts Algorithmic Empire