Workshop for Module 1 (QPD): AI visions – understanding how artificial intelligence is culturally imagined

About the Workshop

How AI is imagined and presented has real consequences: certain visions may lead to favorable policymaking and investments, spark consumers’ interest and demand, or, on the contrary, hinder technology acceptance. This workshop discusses the processes of construction and negotiation of AI narratives across various loci. We will look into the cultural contexts of AI technologies and their representation in media, politics, and popular culture.

Participants will gain insights into the factors contributing to and the potential impact of specific AI imaginaries. Through discussions and interactive sessions, participants will develop the skills to critically analyze current AI visions and potentially challenge dominant narratives, supporting counternarratives that reflect diverse perspectives and experiences. This workshop empowers participants to navigate the evolving discourse surrounding AI with greater awareness and equips them with conceptual and methodological means to examine how AI is presented.

As a final assignment, workshop participants must submit a short text/presentation which analyses AI imaginaries based on an individually chosen case:

• AI product launch presentation
• Advertisement
• Movie or TV series
• Tech company CEO/entrepreneur interview
• Political debate

The workshop is suitable for beginners. Max. No. of participants: 12

About Alisa Maksimova

Alisa Maksimova is postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS), Bochum, Germany. Her areas of expertise include interactional sociology, qualitative methodologies, museum studies, and science and technology studies. Alisa’s interests concern studying technology, culture, and social interaction in various contexts. She has investigated human-robot interaction in a call center and has done research on how people explore and make sense of contemporary museum exhibitions. In her current projects Alisa analyses artificial intelligence (AI) narratives in museums and perception of AI.

Readings

• Bareis, J., & Katzenbach, C. (2022). Talking AI into being: The narratives and imaginaries of national AI strategies and their performative politics. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 47(5), 855-881.
• Campolo, A., & Crawford, K. (2020). Enchanted determinism: Power without responsibility in artificial intelligence. Engaging Science, Technology, and Society.
• Depounti, I., Saukko, P., & Natale, S. (2023). Ideal technologies, ideal women: AI and gender imaginaries in Redditors’ discussions on the Replika bot girlfriend. Media, Culture & Society, 45(4), 720-736.
• Natale, S., & Ballatore, A. (2020). Imagining the thinking machine: Technological myths and the rise of artificial intelligence. Convergence, 26(1), 3-18.

Please register here.