Science Fiction as the Blueprint Informing Policy in the Age of AI and Emerging Technology by Siddharth Yadav
January 17, 2024
Introduction:
(Observer Research Foundation) This issue brief examines the complex interplay between science fiction and technology development in the age of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and brain-computer interfaces. As the line between science and fiction continues to blur, this brief argues for strategically using science fiction narratives to inform and guide technology development and policymaking. Drawing upon historical precedents of science fiction influencing real-world products, it highlights the genre’s role in shaping technological trajectories and governance frameworks. Amid rapid technological advancement and divergent views on future risks, this brief advocates for science fiction to be a vital tool in envisioning and evaluating the societal impacts of emerging technologies, proposing a novel approach to anticipatory policy governance.
Introduction
Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) will be strategically pivotal in the twenty-first century. The rapid advancement of frontier technologies, including AI, virtual reality (VR), and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), presents a pressing challenge for governments worldwide. The accelerating pace of technological innovation, the chaotic and sensationalist marketing strategies aimed by AI developers at non-experts, and the potentially asymmetric cross-sector impact of emerging tech platforms demand proactive policy responses and robust sociopolitical discussions. However, policymakers and analysts confront a unique difficulty: engaging in conversations about emerging technologies and platforms that are constantly evolving.
This issue came to the fore in 2017 during discussions on AI policy at the European Parliament. Following talks on possible near-future applications of AI in one of the world’s first AI policy documents, the European Parliament adopted its Civil Law Rules for Robotics. The discussions opened with various references to science fiction, such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Czech author Karel Capek’s coinage of the term ‘robot’ in 1921, and the three laws of robotics posited in Isaac Asimov’s 1943 short story Runaround. During the discussion, the Parliament requested the European Commission to submit a proposal for a directive on civil law rules for robots and “creating a specific legal status for robots in the long run”.
Studying Science Fiction Films Can Help Students Understand the Power Societies Have to Shape Our Lives by Harry F. Dahms
October 2, 2024
Introduction:
(The Conversation) Title of course:
Sociology, Science Fiction Film, and Artificial Intelligence
What prompted the idea for the course?
A colleague in the sociology department used to teach a course using a film genre from the 1940s and 1950s that presented a bleak view of modern societies. I liked the idea of using film in my classes, but I was interested in another film genre. I chose science fiction films to encourage sociology students to adopt a constructive view of the future. I also wanted them to see the parallels between the underlying messages in these films and many concepts in sociology.
What does the course explore?
Since the 19th century, science fiction and sociology have examined how industry and economics affect what it means to be human.
Science fiction often looks at potentially dangerous contemporary trends and envisions a future in which society and human civilization are threatened. Sociologists also focus on unsettling trends: overpopulation, rising inequality, resource depletion, excessive reliance on technology or persistent racism. Science fiction imagines the impact of these trends on the social structures of the future. In contrast, sociologists focus on the roles that economics, the different ways of structuring a society and technology play in creating these trends.
Why is this course relevant now?
The goal of this course is to help students understand that societies are more than groups of people. Societies are alive and try to survive on their own terms and are sometimes at odds with the interests of the people who live in them.