Do digital platforms have politics? Future(s) of Democracy in the Era of Artificial Intelligence.

Keynote of The 19th Annual STS Conference Graz 2021 „Critical Issues in Science, Technology and Society Studies“ – 3-5 May 2021, Graz

Petra Schaper Rinkel: Do digital platforms have politics? Future(s) of Democracy in the Era of Artificial Intelligence.

Abstract: Starting from the controversy whether and which political qualities technical artifacts and infrastructures have, this talk explores the political in AI-based platforms and infrastructures and asks about the future of the political – and with it about the future(s) of democracy in Europe.  I will analyse the utopian and dystopian visions of the future that visioneers and critics develop in relation to the potential and risks of AI / machine learning, and identify their fundamental political implications.  The promise and critique of AI focus on the existing state of governance, not on the possible futures of the political. In the last part of the talk, I will give an outlook on what scenarios emerge when the future options of the political are linked to different futures of AI.