The James article describes an example of a post-digital system: a machine learning algorithm that can identify sexual orientation based on facial recognition. The article points out that such systems are akin to the pseudo science of physiognomy, which attempted to connect intelligence to head shape and facial characteristics.

Cramer would argue that such a system is "post-digital" in that it repurposes or reimagines an old system in digital terms. For Cramer, post-digital does not refer to a time after computers, but instead a time when computing technology is so ubiquitous that its "otherness" has worn off, and it begins to adopt or consume earlier "analog" technologies. Cramer's example is somewhat less alarming: he mentions the insertion of "glitches" in music to replicate analog "grain" even while the means of distribution remains digital. But the AI-powered "gaydar" system from The Verge article is another case of an old idea being resurrected by modern tech.

Adam Greenfield cautions, in the conclusion to his book, that systems, once they come into use, cease to be under the control of their designers. His point is that once AI is widely distributed, its effects can no longer be predicted and will, most likely, have outcomes very different than what the designers intended. James touches on this in his gaydar piece, suggesting that such systems in the wrong hands could be used for mass persecution of gay people.

Taken together, these pieces suggest that the ubiquitous computing resources of the post-digital society will be deployed to recapture and augment experiences through digital means.