Alkemata is an independent publication about technology for human life.
Technology is often discussed as a race between products, companies or nations. We start somewhere else: with the people who must understand it, use it, live with its consequences and sometimes challenge it.
Our subject is deliberately broad. Artificial intelligence can change education and work. Digital systems can make public services more humane—or more opaque. Advances in physics and engineering can reshape energy, mobility, medicine and security. Even an apparently small design decision can redistribute time, attention, power and responsibility.
What we publish
- Viewpoints connect a technological development with a larger human or societal question.
- Deep dives explain mechanisms, architectures, providers, evidence, limitations and alternatives.
- Explainers make difficult scientific and technical ideas accessible without pretending that the difficulty does not exist.
- Field notes draw lessons from concrete projects, institutions and professional practice.
Our editorial lens
We judge technology not only by whether it is new or powerful, but by whether it strengthens human capability and agency. We ask who can use a system, who can understand it, who may contest its decisions, where responsibility lies and what happens when it fails.
Technical depth matters. Human-centred technology cannot be built from good intentions alone. It requires an understanding of physical constraints, software architecture, institutions, incentives, law and the realities of implementation.
Editorial principles
- Begin with a concrete human situation whenever possible.
- Separate established evidence, interpretation and speculation.
- Link to primary and authoritative sources.
- Explain drawbacks, trade-offs and failure modes.
- Give readers practical ways to participate, question or act.
- Correct substantive errors transparently.
Explore Alkemata
New readers can begin with the Start Here page, browse the four principal topics, or subscribe to the newsletter.