Experiments, Computations, and “Reference Ethnography”: How to Bring Artificial Intelligence Down to Earth in Contemporary Laboratory Sciences?

Abstract

This article introduces the thematic section “In situ, in vitro, in silico: classical and contemporary laboratory ethnographies”, outlining the trifocal concept that unites its contributions. The section includes articles by Evgeniya Popova, Vladislava Bobrova, and Andrei Kuznetsov. The authors offer a fresh perspective on experimental and computational practices in modern laboratories while rethinking how scholars study them. They examine how digitalization, datafication, and computational approaches – particularly artificial intelligence – are transforming modern experimental science practices. This introduction explores how to build a dialogue between classical and contemporary laboratory studies. This dialogue establishes reference points for contemporary science ethnographies to interpret new empirical data and refine classical models accordingly. Drawing on Bruno Latour’s classical concepts of scientific production and contemporary algorithm ethnographies, this introduction interprets the section’s most compelling empirical findings.