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Citizens, Society and Artificial Intelligence (CiSAI)

The platform 'Citizens, Society and Artificial Intelligence (CiSAI)' unites social and behavioural science researchers who analyse the effects of AI on societal dynamics and on the lives of individual citizens.

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About 'Citizens, Society and Artificial Intelligence (CiSAI)'

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is more than just a set of technologies. AI will fundamentally affect citizens and transform societies, in both desirable and undesirable ways. The FMG Platform Citizens, Society and Artificial Intelligence (CiSAI) unites Social and Behavioural science researchers who analyse these transformations and the effects of AI on societal dynamics and on the lives of individual citizens. CiSAI focuses on how people and organizations use AI and how these technologies and their application are shaped by political regulation, technical developments and popular trust or mistrust. CiSAI will generate new academic insights and practically applicable findings.

Cooperation with non-academic partners

This kind of research thrives and is valorised through the interaction with non-academic stakeholders, like ministries, public authorities, and municipalities. They need to reap the benefits of AI applications while safeguarding public values and avoiding ethical pitfalls and unintended side-effects. CiSAI fuses the FMG research that speaks to these concerns and elucidates the societal challenges involved. 

CiSAI Themes 

The platform 'Citizens, Society and Artificial Intelligence (CiSAI)' unites social and behavioural science researchers who analyse the effects of AI on societal dynamics and on the lives of individual citizens. CiSAI focuses on the following themes.

AI & Democracy, media and public opinion 

AI systems are used to increase the effectiveness of targeting citizens with political messages, normally through digital channels. It can thereby contribute to communication bubbles, systematic misinformation and polarization. In that way, AI affects and may damage democratic decision-making dynamics.

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AI & Inequalities 

AI systems could affect patterns of inequality in a whole range of ways. They may change patterns of employment, systematically putting many people who perform more or less routine tasks out of work. At the same time, people (or social classes) controlling AI might reap significant economic benefits. A central worry is that AI systems blindly reproduce unequal historical pattern in social interaction. Many scholars therefore highlight AI’s reproduction of gendered, racial and potentially other forms of discrimination.

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Public policy and governance of AI

AI has broad implications for social life and politics. It is essential to understand better how and by whom it is governed, and why so. The ensuing questions range from international initiatives to govern AI and lobbying by tech companies to explaining differences between national regulatory approaches and the role of expertise and citizen opinions in the formation of policies. Governments use AI in a whole variety of ways, from monitoring and guiding traffic flows to guiding policing and border control.

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AI & Consumption 

As more and more people consume cultural content through digital portals (Netflix, Spotify, etc.), their consumption patterns are shaped by the choices that AI systems make for them. AI systems are also used to target citizens for the sale of particular products, based on their presumed preferences.

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The reconfiguration of (public) space through AI 

Around the world, authorities monitor citizen behavior in public spaces with AI-driven camera surveillance. These monitoring systems tend to form part of oppressive state policies towards citizens. However, the recordings also provide unique opportunities for social scientists to understand and explain real-life behavior, including ‘hidden’ behavior such as during criminal events, conflicts and violence.

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AI & the reorganization of the workspace

AI is changing how we approach our daily work. For example, AI can provide new analytical tools, suggest courses of action and (selection) decisions, influence social interactions, or monitor organizational dynamics. The consequences are profound: the introduction of AI systems at work are bound to affect employees’ perceptions of autonomy, competency, and responsibility at work, while also causing feelings of insecurity among employees about the future of their work.

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Source: UvA - CiSAI

Image credits

Header image: UvA - CiSAI Themes

Icon image: UvA - CiSAI Themes

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