...
As artificial intelligence begins to infiltrate various aspects of public life, from surveillance systems to algorithmic decision-making, it brings opportunities and challenges for democratic societies. Amongst privacy, surveillance, bias, and authorship concerns, it becomes easy to imagine an expanse of dystopian futures. The shift of political discourse to social media has also left our internal and interpersonal realm vulnerable to A.I.-based political manipulation. Yet, AI is now inseparable from all possible future trajectories: finding a non-zero-sum relationship with AI is a societal and ecological imperative.
The shift of political discourse to social media has left our internal and interpersonal realm highly vulnerable to subversive A.I. based manipulation. But what about the historically central sphere of political and democratic discourse: the public space? Could this be our great chance to re-design a relationship with AI that is symbiotic and aligned with the needs of humans and non-human ecologies?
In this module, we will build experimental futures for democracy in a spatial context. The course will work in collaboration with researchers from the SNF project “Stories of the Future”, a scientific communication project which aims to sensitize young people in Switzerland to the political and ethical nature of AI.
...