DOJIN Sensho AI shakai no arukikata (A traveler’s guide to the AI society: How should we deal with AI?)

As of 2019, not a single day passes without us coming across the term Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is used in a variety of contexts, including research, marketing, philosophy, and science fiction. What is AI? How should we deal with AI?
 
In the Introduction, I stated that I would not uniquely define AI. The concept and existence of AI extends beyond the fields of medicine, agriculture, finance, and services. In addition, the knowledge of various stakeholders, including engineers, policymakers, NPOs, industries, and researchers of the social sciences and humanities, is required to consider its utilization. Concepts and objects used across a vast array of stakeholders connect people from different disciplines. Everyone can talk about AI in their own words. Talking about AI is talking about societies. Utopia, which is expected, and dystopia, which might be too real, reveal the aspirations and concerns of these talking individuals and communities.
 
The research field of STS (there are two abbreviations: Science and Technology Studies; and Science, Technology and Society), which I specialize in, has the aspect of "Studies," which points out issues in science, technology, and society, as well as the aspect of "Interacting with Society," which considers countermeasures against issues. The important thing is to avoid getting into a fine definition-related debate and sort out what each group expects by and perceives as challenges in using the term AI, creating a community and people that act as a boundary-spanner to bridge among the different groups.
 
This book introduces the expectations and challenges of each field and community: AI technology challenges by engineers (chap. 1), Science and technology policy on AI (chap. 2), Business and social applications and impacts of AI (chap. 3), Philosophical, ethical and legal perspectives (chap. 4). Each community is not fragmented but related. Therefore, between chapters, a short story of a group travelling through their communities is included. The last chapter concludes by mentioning the possibilities and challenges of the people themselves who act as a boundary-spanner that bridges among the various fields.
 
As described in the Afterword, this book can be named "AI community infiltration record: 2014-2018." As someone who both “studies" and “bridges" the AI community, I was deeply involved in AI academic societies, industry associations, and science and technology policies in the process of "infiltration." Researchers need to be aware that they are bound by certain values and common sense. Therefore, chapter 5 describes my position as objectively as possible, and one of the features of STS is to look back critically and reflectively on one’s position and interests.

“AI shakai no arukikata” p,240-1 (translated by the author)

(Written by EMA Arisa, Project Assistant Professor, Institute for Future Initiatives / 2019)