Artificial Intelligence and future imaginaries

This article is part of my Master’s Thesis - Future Imaginaries. Previous Chapter: 4.1 Tools for the examination of future imaginaries

Anyone who conducts scenario processes today, as mentioned in the introduction, whether with stakeholders from business, politics, or civil society, is quite likely to take up the topic of artificial intelligence ([AI]) during the discussion of key drivers. Among all the potential Future Imaginaries currently dominating the public discourse on the future in Germany and worldwide, AI was chosen for this brief consideration at the end of this paper. The reason for this is that it is a primarily technological topic. However, public discourse has long since transcended this framework. It is not only the business community developing strategies for dealing with and using AI. Many citizens are increasingly concerned about how AI will influence their lives.12

What is deliberately avoided in this chapter is a more precise definition of AI. It is virtually a characteristic of AI that it has broken away from a specific technical definition and is now characterized in public discourse by the vagueness typical of Future Imaginaries. This allows an enormous room for interpretation for various actors who associate their expectations, hopes, and fears with the term. And so, the discourse around AI in 2019 even makes it into the Christmas sermon of Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki.3

In the following, two analyses on the topic of AI will be considered, each of which relies on one of the methodological approaches listed in the last chapter. They show how possible future imaginaries can be approached on the topic of AI and are potential starting points for further development of methods for identifying and deconstructing future imaginaries.4

Next Chapter: 4.2.1 AI and science fiction

  1. see Knobloch, T. (2018, September 30). Der Staat als KI-Pionier. Tobias Knobloch. https://medium.com/@tobiasknobloch/der-staat-als-ki-pionier-e7c18699d3. Zugegriffen: 29. Mai 2019 ↩

  2. see Al-Ani, A. (2019). Digitalisierung in Deutschland: Wir müssen lernen, völlig anders zu denken. Die Zeit. Hamburg. https://www.zeit.de/digital/internet/2019-01/digitalisierung-deutschland-kuenstliche-intelligenz-bildung-digitalgipfel/komplettansicht. Zugegriffen: 29. Mai 2019 ↩

  3. Süddeutsche Zeitung. (2019, Dezember 25). Weihnachtspredigten: KI und Jesu Bot- schaft. Süddeutsche.de. https://www.sueddeutsche.de/panorama/weihnachten-predigten-1.4735883. Zugegriffen: 2. Januar 2020 ↩

  4. A third analysis that could serve as a starting point for further methodological development is to look at AI using Inayatullah’s CLA, combined with the genealogy from his poststructuralist toolbox as undertaken by Elissa Farrow.5 She shows how the myths and metaphors around AI have evolved over time. Due to space limitations, the analysis cannot be explored in more detail in this thesis. ↩

  5. Farrow, E. (2019). To augment human capacity—Artificial intelligence evolution through causal layered analysis. Futures, 108, 61–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2019.02.022 ↩

Notes mentioning this note

AI and science fiction
This article is part of my [[Master’s Thesis - Future Imaginaries]]. Previous Chapter: 4.2 [[Artificial Intelligence and future imaginaries]]
Master's Thesis – Future Imaginaries
I did my master’s in futures research from 2017 to 2020 at the FU Berlin. In my master’s thesis, submitted...
Outlook – Application of future imaginaries
This article is part of my [[Master’s Thesis - Future Imaginaries]]. Previous Chapter: 3.4.4 [[Effect of performativity on future imaginaries]]...
Tools for the examination of future imaginaries
This article is part of my [[Master’s Thesis - Future Imaginaries]]. Previous Chapter: 4 [[Outlook – Application of future imaginaries]]...

Here are all the notes in this garden, along with their links, visualized as a graph.

AI and science fictionAI, future imaginaries, and futures studiesArtificial IntelligenceAnti DystopiaApproachDr. Armin GrunwaldArticle - Future FailArticle – Future of Terranascient Futures Studies...Article - Futures from RuinsArticles on FuturesArtifical general intelligence (agi)Artificial Intelligence and future imaginariesArticle – Beyond Capitalist RealismThe Blue Ant TrilogyBooks on FuturesCla gameCharacteristics of Future ImaginariesCollective MemoryCommon SenseComparable and related approachesComparison of national AI strategiesComponents of Future ImaginariesConceptual challenges and inconsistenciesConclusionCondensation of Future ImaginariesCritical Futures StudiesCyberpunkDates and eventsDifferentiation from similar termsDigital GardenEarly Approaches to ImaginariesEffect of performativity on future imaginariesFictional Expectations from BeckertFred PolakPaper – From Critique to Cultural RecoveryFuture Imaginaries from CookFuture Imaginaries from Goode and GodheFuture ScenarioFutures StudiesFutures terminologyFuturesGlobal business networkGoalsImages of the Future from InayatullahImaginaries from Lockton and CandyImaginaries from an anthropological perspectiveImaginariesInteresting Questions in Futures Studies &...IntroductionIntroductions to Futures Thinking & ForesightKey questions in critical futures studiesLeitbildLiterature on Critical Futures StudiesLongtermismMaster's Thesis – Future ImaginariesMeaning-Making and AIMegatrendsMetaphorMethodsMinimum group size for (future) imaginariesMythNele fischer on critical futures studiesNo future is neutralNo such thing as “future-proof”Observations from the examination of futures and...Official futureOutlook – Application of future imaginariesOverton WindowPattern recognitionPresent futures from GrunwaldPull of the FutureQuestions for the Start of a Foresight ProjectRationalistsResearch QuestionsRoles of Future ImaginariesSarkar gameSituating the ResearcherSocial ImaginariesSociotechnical Imaginaries from JasanoffSohail InayatullahTescrealThe Difference between Present Futures and Future...Book – The Image of the FutureThe JackpotThe network stateThe Role of Futures in CapitalismThe distinction between imaginaries and future...The vagueness of future imaginariesThinkers on futuresTools for the examination of future imaginariesTowards a definition of Future ImaginariesTraining Practice for FuturistsSorry, but this is not a trend reportVisionWhat good is scientific rigor when nobody gives a...William GibsonMethod: WindtunnelingWorldbuildingCritical FuturesFuture Imaginaries