{"title":"Invisible Infrastructure: A Research Program","url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research","author":"Jake Lawrence","license":"All rights reserved; cite freely.","count":16,"records":[{"id":"classification","slug":"classification-is-infrastructure","number":"01","title":"Classification as Infrastructure in LLM Systems","abstract":"Connects two technical systems (SAGEN, LLM-QP) to Bowker and Star's theory of classification as infrastructure. Argues that the planning layers emerging in LLM architectures reproduce the same dynamics found in institutional classification: invisible category work that distributes consequences unevenly.","tldr":"Every planning layer is a classification system. The question is whether we build it deliberately or let it emerge accidentally.","kind":"Position Paper","status":"Working Paper","method":"Theoretical synthesis","field":"Science and Technology Studies","subjects":["STS","AI Systems"],"series":"ai-systems","tags":["Bowker and Star","Infrastructure Theory","LLM Architecture"],"date":"2025-01-20","year":2025,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/classification-is-infrastructure","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/classification-is-infrastructure","pdf":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/papers/Classification_is_Infrastructure_V4.pdf","fullText":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/classification-is-infrastructure/paper","related":["sagen","llmqp","stance","invisible","sorting_hat","sorting_machine","unratified"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2025, January 20). Classification as Infrastructure in LLM Systems. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/classification-is-infrastructure","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Classification as Infrastructure in LLM Systems.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 20 Jan. 2025, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/classification-is-infrastructure.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Classification as Infrastructure in LLM Systems.\" jakelawrence.xyz. January 20, 2025. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/classification-is-infrastructure.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2025classificationisinfrastructure,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {Classification as Infrastructure in LLM Systems},\n  year = {2025},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/classification-is-infrastructure}},\n  note = {Position Paper, Working Paper. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"sagen","slug":"sagen","number":"02","title":"Situational Awareness for Generative Agents","abstract":"Proposes a blackboard architecture with six interoperating modules to give LLM-based agents persistent situational awareness across interaction turns.","tldr":"LLM agents can generate responses but have no persistent model of where they are, what they have done, or what they are trying to accomplish.","kind":"System","status":"Working Paper","method":"Architecture design and prototype","field":"AI Systems","subjects":["AI Systems"],"series":"ai-systems","tags":["Python","Open Source","Blackboard Architecture"],"date":"2024-11-12","year":2024,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/sagen","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/sagen","pdf":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/papers/sagen-paper-v7.pdf","fullText":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/sagen/paper","related":["classification","llmqp","beautiful"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2024, November 12). Situational Awareness for Generative Agents. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/sagen","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Situational Awareness for Generative Agents.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 12 Nov. 2024, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/sagen.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Situational Awareness for Generative Agents.\" jakelawrence.xyz. November 12, 2024. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/sagen.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2024sagen,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {Situational Awareness for Generative Agents},\n  year = {2024},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/sagen}},\n  note = {System, Working Paper. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"llmqp","slug":"llm-qp","number":"03","title":"Query Planning for Large Language Model Inference","abstract":"Applies cost-based query planning from database systems to LLM inference. Uses contextual bandits to route between execution plans for constrained decoding.","tldr":"An LLM that produces the right answer at 100x the necessary cost has an infrastructure problem, not an intelligence problem.","kind":"System","status":"Working Paper","method":"Systems design with bandit optimization","field":"AI Systems / ML Infrastructure","subjects":["AI Systems","ML Infrastructure"],"series":"ai-systems","tags":["Contextual Bandits","MLIR / StableHLO","Constrained Decoding"],"date":"2024-12-08","year":2024,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/llm-qp","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/llm-qp","pdf":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/papers/LLM-QP-v2.pdf","fullText":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/llm-qp/paper","related":["classification","sagen","beautiful"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2024, December 8). Query Planning for Large Language Model Inference. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/llm-qp","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Query Planning for Large Language Model Inference.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 8 Dec. 2024, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/llm-qp.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Query Planning for Large Language Model Inference.\" jakelawrence.xyz. December 8, 2024. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/llm-qp.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2024llmqp,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {Query Planning for Large Language Model Inference},\n  year = {2024},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/llm-qp}},\n  note = {System, Working Paper. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"stance","slug":"stance-design","number":"04","title":"Stance Design","abstract":"Argues that 'sycophancy' is a containment word that prevents the public from asking the right questions about AI personality design. Proposes 'stance design' as the replacement framework: the invisible decisions companies make about when to defer, challenge, validate, or redirect. Includes four interactive components (The Calibration, The Shift, The Rewrite, Preset Test) that demonstrate the argument experientially. The essay mutates its own text partway through to enact the manipulation it describes, then reveals the mutations.","tldr":"Every AI system you interact with has been told how to treat you. That decision was made by a product team, encoded in training, and deployed without your knowledge. The essay coins the replacement term.","kind":"Interactive Essay","status":"Published","method":"Critical analysis with experiential methodology","field":"STS / AI Ethics / Product Design","subjects":["STS","AI Ethics","Product Design"],"series":"interface","tags":["Stance Design","AI Ethics","Sycophancy","Product Transparency"],"date":"2025-03-18","year":2025,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/stance-design","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/stance-design","pdf":null,"fullText":null,"related":["classification","sorting_hat","invisible","tracker"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2025, March 18). Stance Design. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/stance-design","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Stance Design.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 18 Mar. 2025, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/stance-design.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Stance Design.\" jakelawrence.xyz. March 18, 2025. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/stance-design.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2025stancedesign,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {Stance Design},\n  year = {2025},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/stance-design}},\n  note = {Interactive Essay, Published. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"invisible","slug":"the-invisible-architecture","number":"05","title":"The Invisible Architecture","abstract":"A cross-disciplinary literature review examining psychiatric classification through the lens of infrastructure theory. Presented as an interactive essay with six embedded pedagogical games and thirteen narrated audio sections.","tldr":"The DSM determines who receives a diagnosis, what treatment they access, and how they understand themselves. It was designed as a reference manual. It became infrastructure.","kind":"Interactive Essay","status":"In Progress","method":"Literature review with public scholarship","field":"STS / Critical Psychology","subjects":["STS","Critical Psychology"],"series":"sorting","tags":["Psychiatric Classification","DSM-5","Public Scholarship"],"date":"2025-02-25","year":2025,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/the-invisible-architecture","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/the-invisible-architecture","pdf":null,"fullText":null,"related":["classification","stance","sorting_hat","sorting_machine","beautiful","unratified"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2025, February 25). The Invisible Architecture. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/the-invisible-architecture","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"The Invisible Architecture.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 25 Feb. 2025, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/the-invisible-architecture.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"The Invisible Architecture.\" jakelawrence.xyz. February 25, 2025. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/the-invisible-architecture.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2025theinvisiblearchitecture,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {The Invisible Architecture},\n  year = {2025},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/the-invisible-architecture}},\n  note = {Interactive Essay, In Progress. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"beautiful","slug":"the-beautiful-unfinished","number":"06","title":"The Beautiful Unfinished","abstract":"A 40,000-word interdisciplinary essay drawing on neuroscience, organizational theory, philosophy of action, and other fields to argue that the planning-execution gap is a permanent structural condition.","tldr":"The gap between planning and execution is not a failure of discipline. It is a structural feature of how cognition, institutions, and reward systems interact.","kind":"Essay","status":"In Progress","method":"Interdisciplinary literature synthesis","field":"Organizational Studies / Philosophy of Action","subjects":["Organizational Studies","Philosophy of Action"],"series":null,"tags":["Planning Theory","Sensemaking","Interdisciplinary"],"date":"2025-04-22","year":2025,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/the-beautiful-unfinished","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/the-beautiful-unfinished","pdf":null,"fullText":null,"related":["classification","sagen","llmqp","invisible"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2025, April 22). The Beautiful Unfinished. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/the-beautiful-unfinished","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"The Beautiful Unfinished.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 22 Apr. 2025, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/the-beautiful-unfinished.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"The Beautiful Unfinished.\" jakelawrence.xyz. April 22, 2025. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/the-beautiful-unfinished.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2025thebeautifulunfinished,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {The Beautiful Unfinished},\n  year = {2025},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/the-beautiful-unfinished}},\n  note = {Essay, In Progress. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"sorting_hat","slug":"the-new-sorting-hat","number":"07","title":"The New Sorting Hat","abstract":"Analyzes AI writing detection tools as classification infrastructure. Examines false positive rates, disparate impact on non-native English speakers and students with disabilities, and procedural due process gaps.","tldr":"AI detection tools are marketed as academic integrity measures. In practice, they function as classification infrastructure that determines which students get believed.","kind":"Essay","status":"Working Paper","method":"Critical policy analysis","field":"Critical Education Studies / STS","subjects":["Critical Education","STS"],"series":"sorting","tags":["Infrastructure Theory","AI Detection","Academic Integrity"],"date":"2025-05-14","year":2025,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-new-sorting-hat","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/the-new-sorting-hat","pdf":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-new-sorting-hat.pdf","fullText":null,"related":["classification","stance","invisible","sorting_machine","tracker"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2025, May 14). The New Sorting Hat. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-new-sorting-hat","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"The New Sorting Hat.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 14 May 2025, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-new-sorting-hat.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"The New Sorting Hat.\" jakelawrence.xyz. May 14, 2025. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-new-sorting-hat.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2025thenewsortinghat,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {The New Sorting Hat},\n  year = {2025},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-new-sorting-hat}},\n  note = {Essay, Working Paper. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"sorting_machine","slug":"the-sorting-machine","number":"08","title":"The Sorting Machine","abstract":"Examines special education diagnostic and placement systems as classification infrastructure. Draws on disability studies, critical special education scholarship, and infrastructure theory.","tldr":"Special education classification decides which children receive support, which receive labels, and which fall through entirely.","kind":"Essay","status":"In Progress","method":"Critical literature review","field":"Critical Education / Disability Studies","subjects":["Critical Education","Disability Studies"],"series":"sorting","tags":["Infrastructure Theory","Special Education","Disability Studies"],"date":"2025-06-09","year":2025,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-sorting-machine","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/the-sorting-machine","pdf":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-sorting-machine.pdf","fullText":null,"related":["classification","invisible","sorting_hat","tracker"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2025, June 9). The Sorting Machine. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-sorting-machine","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"The Sorting Machine.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 9 June 2025, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-sorting-machine.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"The Sorting Machine.\" jakelawrence.xyz. June 9, 2025. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-sorting-machine.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2025thesortingmachine,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {The Sorting Machine},\n  year = {2025},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-sorting-machine}},\n  note = {Essay, In Progress. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"tracker","slug":"accountability-tracker","number":"09","title":"AI Detection Accountability Tracker","abstract":"Mixed-methods policy audit examining AI detection implementation across 25 U.S. universities. Stratified sampling by Carnegie classification. 11-dimension evaluation framework.","tldr":"25 universities. 11 dimensions. 1.3 million students in scope. The empirical companion to the essays.","kind":"Accountability Tracker","status":"Active","method":"Mixed-methods policy audit","field":"Higher Education Policy / STS","subjects":["Higher Education Policy","STS"],"series":"field-data","tags":["AI Detection","Higher Education","Policy Audit"],"date":"2025-07-21","year":2025,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/accountability-tracker","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/accountability-tracker","pdf":null,"fullText":null,"related":["stance","sorting_hat","sorting_machine"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2025, July 21). AI Detection Accountability Tracker. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/accountability-tracker","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"AI Detection Accountability Tracker.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 21 July 2025, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/accountability-tracker.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"AI Detection Accountability Tracker.\" jakelawrence.xyz. July 21, 2025. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/accountability-tracker.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2025accountabilitytracker,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {AI Detection Accountability Tracker},\n  year = {2025},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/accountability-tracker}},\n  note = {Accountability Tracker, Active. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"seeing_like_ai_company","slug":"seeing-like-an-ai-company","number":"10","title":"Seeing Like an AI Company","abstract":"A dramatized seminar in which a Council of Elders (Star, Polanyi, Galbraith, Ostrom, Scott, Franklin, with Hayek dissenting by letter) critiques OpenAI's April 2026 proposal 'Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age.' Seven interactive components let readers redraw the boundaries, score the document against Ostrom's eight principles, watch the dashboard miss the disruptions that matter most, and design their own governance architecture.","tldr":"Six dead scholars read OpenAI's industrial policy proposal and find six connected problems it refuses to name.","kind":"Interactive Essay","status":"Working Paper","method":"Critical seminar with interactive components","field":"STS / Political Economy of AI","subjects":["STS","Political Economy"],"series":"invisible-infrastructure","tags":["Infrastructure Theory","AI Governance","Classification","Polycentricity"],"date":"2026-04-25","year":2026,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/seeing-like-an-ai-company","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/seeing-like-an-ai-company","pdf":null,"fullText":null,"related":["classification","invisible","stance","sorting_hat","sorting_machine","tracker","unratified"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2026, April 25). Seeing Like an AI Company. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/seeing-like-an-ai-company","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Seeing Like an AI Company.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 25 Apr. 2026, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/seeing-like-an-ai-company.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Seeing Like an AI Company.\" jakelawrence.xyz. April 25, 2026. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/seeing-like-an-ai-company.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2026seeinglikeanaicompany,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {Seeing Like an AI Company},\n  year = {2026},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/seeing-like-an-ai-company}},\n  note = {Interactive Essay, Working Paper. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"long_hold","slug":"the-long-hold","number":"11","title":"What Webb Kept Alive","abstract":"A fifteen-section interactive essay on the apparatus of civil servants, senators, and engineers that preserved space nuclear capability from SNAP-10A in 1965 through DRACO in 2025. Ends in a mission Explorer that builds power profiles against the NSTM-3 tier baseline. Part one of Invisible Infrastructure #5.","tldr":"Sixty years of US space nuclear capability, held across six political eras without ever being exercised, until the April 2026 NSTM-3 memo arrived to cash it in.","kind":"Interactive Essay","status":"Published","method":"Case study with interactive calculator","field":"STS / Institutional History","subjects":["STS","Institutional History"],"series":"invisible-infrastructure","tags":["Invisible Infrastructure","Space Nuclear","Institutional Memory"],"date":"2026-05-04","year":2026,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-long-hold","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/the-long-hold","pdf":null,"fullText":null,"related":["state_keeps","classification","invisible","seeing_like_ai_company","unratified"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2026, May 4). What Webb Kept Alive. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-long-hold","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"What Webb Kept Alive.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 4 May 2026, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-long-hold.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"What Webb Kept Alive.\" jakelawrence.xyz. May 4, 2026. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-long-hold.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2026thelonghold,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {What Webb Kept Alive},\n  year = {2026},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-long-hold}},\n  note = {Interactive Essay, Published. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"state_keeps","slug":"what-the-state-keeps","number":"12","title":"What the State Keeps","abstract":"A nine-section essay with two embedded interactives: a Playbook Simulator applying Amazon's six acquisition moves to the full inventory, and a Portfolio Explorer that sorts by reconstitution, switchability, and decay. The companion to What Webb Kept Alive, and part two of Invisible Infrastructure #5.","tldr":"The American federal state as a portfolio of 49 unexercised options, evaluated through an acquisition optimizer's lens. What gets cut, kept, monetized, and why.","kind":"Interactive Essay","status":"Published","method":"Real-options analysis with inventory","field":"Political Economy / State Capacity","subjects":["Political Economy","State Capacity"],"series":"invisible-infrastructure","tags":["Invisible Infrastructure","Real Options","Feminist Economics"],"date":"2026-05-12","year":2026,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/what-the-state-keeps","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/what-the-state-keeps","pdf":null,"fullText":null,"related":["long_hold","classification","invisible","seeing_like_ai_company","unratified"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2026, May 12). What the State Keeps. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/what-the-state-keeps","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"What the State Keeps.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 12 May 2026, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/what-the-state-keeps.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"What the State Keeps.\" jakelawrence.xyz. May 12, 2026. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/what-the-state-keeps.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2026whatthestatekeeps,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {What the State Keeps},\n  year = {2026},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/what-the-state-keeps}},\n  note = {Interactive Essay, Published. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"unratified","slug":"unratified","number":"13","title":"Unratified","abstract":"An explorable explanation in the Bret Victor sense: the reader configures what reads as a deployment console and, at a single relabeling pass, watches the same accrued state re-render as a founding document (definition of citizenship, schedule of rights, amendment log, ratifying authority). The argument is made experienceable rather than stated, read through constituent power (Sieyes) and infrastructural power (Mann), with Aadhaar as the build-time-verified case. Invisible Infrastructure #6.","tldr":"We are writing constitutions and calling them infrastructure. The identity layer of digital public infrastructure carries constitutional force with no ratifying moment.","kind":"Interactive Essay","status":"In Progress","method":"Explorable explanation with build-time-verified case study","field":"STS / Constitutional Theory / Political Economy of DPI","subjects":["STS","Constitutional Theory","Digital Public Infrastructure"],"series":"invisible-infrastructure","tags":["Invisible Infrastructure","Digital Public Infrastructure","Constituent Power","Classification"],"date":"2026-06-19","year":2026,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/unratified","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/unratified","pdf":null,"fullText":null,"related":["classification","invisible","seeing_like_ai_company","long_hold","state_keeps"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2026, June 19). Unratified. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/unratified","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Unratified.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 19 June 2026, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/unratified.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Unratified.\" jakelawrence.xyz. June 19, 2026. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/unratified.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2026unratified,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {Unratified},\n  year = {2026},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/unratified}},\n  note = {Interactive Essay, In Progress. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"sorting_machine_wartime","slug":"the-sorting-machine-wartime-edition","number":"14","title":"The Sorting Machine, Wartime Edition","abstract":"Reads Ukraine's Register of Damaged Property, the eRecovery compensation service, and the September 2025 Diia.AI agent (mediated through MCP and the Trembita bus) as classification infrastructure under existential stress. Distinguishes the removable access gate, which Ukraine's mobile service centres genuinely address, from the load-bearing classification gate, the 40-percent-complete property registry they do not, reading Bowker and Star alongside Scott's legibility. Grounded in the real eVidnovlennia figures (134,771 families, UAH 45.3bn) and the actual Register of Damage category codes, with a four-state comparative shadow (Estonia, Aadhaar, FEMA, Ukraine) where FEMA's self-certification is the worked precedent for the fix. Four interactives: a shareable single-claim funnel, a three-lever explorable (registry completeness, assisted filing, a non-registry proof path), the comparative shadow, and the claim-aware Diia.AI architecture stack. The wartime companion to The Sorting Machine and Unratified.","tldr":"Ukraine's eRecovery and the Diia.AI agent are classification infrastructure under fire. Assisted offline channels remove the device gate; the 40%-complete registry, the load-bearing one, they do not. Bowker, Star, and Scott's legibility, set against FEMA, Aadhaar, and Estonia, with real figures.","kind":"Essay","status":"Published","method":"Critical case study with interactive components","field":"STS / Digital Public Infrastructure / Govtech","subjects":["STS","Digital Public Infrastructure","Govtech"],"series":"invisible-infrastructure","tags":["Invisible Infrastructure","Classification","Digital Public Infrastructure","Ukraine","AI Agents"],"date":"2026-06-22","year":2026,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-sorting-machine-wartime-edition","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/the-sorting-machine-wartime-edition","pdf":null,"fullText":null,"related":["sorting_machine","classification","unratified","invisible","state_keeps"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2026, June 22). The Sorting Machine, Wartime Edition. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-sorting-machine-wartime-edition","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"The Sorting Machine, Wartime Edition.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 22 June 2026, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-sorting-machine-wartime-edition.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"The Sorting Machine, Wartime Edition.\" jakelawrence.xyz. June 22, 2026. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-sorting-machine-wartime-edition.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2026thesortingmachinewartimeedition,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {The Sorting Machine, Wartime Edition},\n  year = {2026},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/the-sorting-machine-wartime-edition}},\n  note = {Essay, Published. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"legibility_gap","slug":"invisible-infrastructure","number":"15","title":"The Legibility Gap","abstract":"The field-data arm of the Invisible Infrastructure series, and the measurement the Wartime Edition asked for after calling its own cohort a model, not a measurement. A sourced, content-as-code dataset across four threads: the registry vs. damage race, the damage-to-compensation gap, the device gate and the digital divide, and the Register of Damage for Ukraine claim categories. An interactive gap meter sets compensation disbursed against assessed need; a methods section carries the full provenance ledger. Refreshed quarterly by pull request.","tldr":"The empirical companion to the Wartime Edition. Ukraine has assessed roughly 90 billion dollars in housing reconstruction need and disbursed on the order of 1 to 2 percent of it through eRecovery so far. The load-bearing reason is a property registry that was 40 percent complete at the invasion.","kind":"Field Data","status":"Active","method":"Content-as-code dataset with sourced provenance","field":"STS / Digital Public Infrastructure / Recovery Data","subjects":["STS","Digital Public Infrastructure","Recovery Data"],"series":"field-data","tags":["Invisible Infrastructure","Ukraine","eRecovery","Legibility","Open Data"],"date":"2026-06-22","year":2026,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/invisible-infrastructure","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/invisible-infrastructure","pdf":null,"fullText":null,"related":["sorting_machine_wartime","unratified","classification","sorting_machine","state_keeps"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2026, June 22). The Legibility Gap. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/invisible-infrastructure","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"The Legibility Gap.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 22 June 2026, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/invisible-infrastructure.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"The Legibility Gap.\" jakelawrence.xyz. June 22, 2026. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/invisible-infrastructure.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2026invisibleinfrastructure,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {The Legibility Gap},\n  year = {2026},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/invisible-infrastructure}},\n  note = {Field Data, Active. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}},{"id":"signed_with_assistance","slug":"signed-with-assistance","number":"16","title":"Signed, With Assistance","abstract":"A clause-by-clause reading of the AI diligence statement Anthropic published for its AI Fluency course, taken through ten disciplines: literary theory (Barthes, Foucault), the history of the scribe and the amanuensis, scientific contributorship (ICMJE, CRediT), the law's human-authorship requirement (the Copyright Office, Thaler v. Perlmutter), the philosophy of intention (Grice, Frankfurt on bullshit), the economics of credit (Merton), media theory (Benjamin's aura), the perverse effects of disclosure (Cain, Loewenstein, and Moore), and classification as infrastructure (Bowker and Star). Five interactive components: an annotated statement, a contribution ledger, a responsibility test, a disclosure dial, and a composer that writes your own. Ends where it began, with the author signing.","tldr":"The AI diligence statement is a new genre. Read across ten disciplines, it turns out to be a signature: not a confession of AI use, but the act of taking authorship of an assisted work.","kind":"Interactive Essay","status":"Published","method":"Close reading with interactive components","field":"Authorship Studies / STS / Media Theory","subjects":["Authorship Studies","STS","Media Theory"],"series":"interface","tags":["Authorship","AI Disclosure","Attribution","Classification"],"date":"2026-07-10","year":2026,"url":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/signed-with-assistance","record":"https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/record/signed-with-assistance","pdf":null,"fullText":null,"related":["classification","stance","seeing_like_ai_company","invisible","sorting_hat"],"citation":{"apa":"Lawrence, J. (2026, July 10). Signed, With Assistance. jakelawrence.xyz. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/signed-with-assistance","mla":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Signed, With Assistance.\" jakelawrence.xyz, 10 July 2026, https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/signed-with-assistance.","chicago":"Lawrence, Jake. \"Signed, With Assistance.\" jakelawrence.xyz. July 10, 2026. https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/signed-with-assistance.","bibtex":"@misc{lawrence2026signedwithassistance,\n  author = {Lawrence, Jake},\n  title = {Signed, With Assistance},\n  year = {2026},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/signed-with-assistance}},\n  note = {Interactive Essay, Published. jakelawrence.xyz}\n}"}}]}