Critical Data & AI Lecture Series #9: Vassilis Galanos

The Social Construction of AI as Existential Risk: Stories of Expectations and Expertise

Lecture by Vassilis Galanos, University of Stirling.

Abstract

This presentation critically examines the terms 'artificial intelligence' (AI) and 'existential risk' as expressions of linguistic socialisation. By revisiting the social construction of technology (SCOT) theory/method package and incorporating insights from the sociology of expectations and expertise, I aim to illuminate the sociological implications and historical underpinnings of framing AI as an existential threat. First, I emphasise the interpretative flexibility and the influence of relevant social groups that shape the contours of existential risks and AI. My analysis identifies the multiple interpretations surrounding AI and existential risks, highlighting the contestation by various actors to establish a dominant credible narrative. This contestation is prevalent among social groups situated along the spectrum from 'singularitarians' to 'job-displacementarians' – each with varying levels of AI expertise and experience. Prestigious figures such as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, are spotlighted for popularising doomsday scenarios despite little to no AI programming knowledge, influencing AI policy discourse between 2014 and 2018. AI-focused social groups are bifurcated into symbolic AI and connectionist expertise domains. Symbolic AI communities, wary of past 'AI winters' and the resultant funding stagnations, have often critiqued the AI-as-existential risk narratives and distanced themselves from connectionism, branded by them as advanced statistics.

Conversely, connectionists – or machine learning/neural network specialists – had previously distanced themselves from the AI label due to internal disputes and fears of unrealistic expectations. However, connectionism has garnered renewed relevance due to significant achievements enabled by internet technologies, leading to a resurgent identification with AI after a period sometimes treated as "dormant" – although overshadowed by Web 2.0 and broader internet hype. Secondly, the presentation discusses the concept of tentatively reaching technical closure by redefining the terminology and the problems, and the role of regulatory selectors, with an examination of Geoffrey Hinton's influential pivot back to embracing the AI label and his role in media discourse as an existential risk commentator. This move is posited to be instrumental in a Kuhnian paradigm shift in AI, particularly as connectionism becomes synonymous with AI and plays a crucial role in shaping the current AI Act, with its regulation intimately linked to various perceived risks. This endeavour traces the lineage and rivalry within AI theoretical traditions and scrutinises the reciprocal influence of socio-political forces and technological discourse, critically countering a double false dichotomy: internet as separate from AI and summer as separate from winter metaphors. Through this analysis, the presentation aims to surface the tacit underpinnings that navigate the complex landscape of AI as both a technical discipline and a social construct. Thirdly, taking into consideration criticisms of SCOT, I am opening up an agenda for avoiding political quietism by actively looking for invisible actors, marginalised during the social shaping of AI.

Bio

Dr Vassilis Galanos, SFHEA (ve/vem) is a Lecturer in Digital Work at the University of Stirling. Vassilis investigates the historical and sociological underpinnings of interwoven AI and internet technologies, and how expertise and expectations are negotiated in these domains. Recent projects involved critical interrogations of generative AI in journalism, interactions of artists and data scientists in the production of exhibited artworks, and community-led regeneration interfacing with data-driven innovation in North Edinburgh, in collaboration with initiatives such as the Data Civics, The New Real, and BRAID UK. Vassilis is a co-founding member of the AI Ethics & Society and the History and Philosophy of Computing's (HaPoC) Working Group on Data Sharing. Vassilis acts as Associate Editor of Technology Analysis and Strategic Management is vegetarian, and has jammed with Sun Ra Arkestra in the middle of Siberia in 2010.

About the lecture series

The Critical Data and AI Lecture Series is organized as a joint venture by members of the research projects AI REUSE (DFF) and Data Loss: The Politics of Disappearance, Destruction and Dispossession in Digital Societies (DALOSS, ERC Stg).