Cross-Cultural Narratives and Imaginations of Weaponised Artificial Intelligence: Comparing France, Japan, and the United States
Abstract: “Thinking machines” have long featured in popular culture, as Cave, Dihal, and Dillon demonstrated in their research on artificial intelligence (AI) narratives. Cave and Dihal identify several narratives related to AI and argue that these influence the perceptions, actions, and decisions of developers, political actors, as well as the public. However, existing research of AI imaginaries do not specifically cover perceptions of weaponised AI. Moreover, few studies go beyond the perceptions of the English-speaking public. In this article we investigate narratives and imaginations surrounding weaponised AI technologies across different cultures. Our analysis is based on data from a public opinion survey conducted in France, Japan, and the United States in 2022-23. In a first step, we assess the extent to which publics in these three states are familiar with the narratives of weaponised AI determined by previous research such as the literature in media and literature studies, as well science and technology studies. Based on our survey data, we also identify alternative narratives of weaponised AI that go beyond existing categories. In this way, we contribute to understanding how cultural contexts and embeddings foster different imaginations of weaponised AI. In a second step, we address the question of whether, and if so in what form, such narratives shape public attitudes towards regulating weaponised AI. In the context of global discussions surrounding the prohibition of some forms of these technologies, examining public perceptions is essential. Imaginaries linked to AI and autonomous weapons, for example in science-fiction, and have been linked to political discourses and decisions in the sphere of security and defence. This article therefore also contributes to the literature seeking to understand if and/or how popular images of “intelligent” machines influence public opinion in relation to the regulation of AI and autonomy in warfare.
Author bios: Ingvild Bode is Associate Professor of International Relations at the Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark. She is the Principal Investigator of the European Research Council funded project AutoNorms, which investigates how autonomous weapon systems may change international norms. Ingvild is principally interested in analysing processes of policy and normative change, especially in the areas of weaponised artificial intelligence, the use of force, and United Nations peacekeeping. Ingvild’s research has been published in journals such as European Journal of International Relations, Review of International Studies, and Chinese Journal of International Politics and with leading publishers. Previously, Ingvild was Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Kent and a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science research fellow with joined affiliation at United Nations University and the University of Tokyo.
Dr Hendrik Huelss is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Center for War Studies, Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark. He works at the intersection and knowledge frontier of international political sociology and AI with a focus on military technologies. His research and publication activities aim at producing critical knowledge on how AI influences the emergence and function of norms in international relations’ settings. Theoretically, he draws on different insights from critical security studies, STS, Foucault studies and IR theory. Dr Huelss publishes in high-ranking journals such as Journal of European Public Policy, International Theory; International Political Sociology and Review of International Studies.
Anna Nadibaidze is a Ph.D. Research Fellow in International Politics at the Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark. She is also a researcher for the European Research Council funded AutoNorms project.
Tom Watts is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), leading a project on Great Power Competition and Remote Warfare. Previously, he was a Teaching Fellow in War and Security at RHUL (2018-2020) and a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Kent (2014-2018). Tom graduated with a PhD in International Relations at the University of Kent in 2019. Tom’s research interests are in the field of International Security with a particular focus on American foreign policy, “remote warfare” and lethal autonomous weapons systems. His research has been published with Geopolitics, Global Affairs, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Drone Wars UK, and the Oxford Research Group.
Recorded Presentation | 28 April 2023
#Journalism #Imaginaries #JournalistsAndCommunicators #France #Japan #US
