AI in society 1

57 flashcards · English · by Mathias777-crypto

What's the basic topic of the first lecture of the course AI and society?
Sociological ideas and concepts about the relationship between technology and society Relations between Artificial Intelligence and society Applying them to concrete AI systems if possible
What makes up a society?
Network: Sociology emphasizes the relations between people. There's communication or interaction networks. Out of these interactions, society emerges. Sociologists are interested in the patterns of interactions (what is the same across groups). There are many (implicit) rules in society. Norms and values also belong to this point. Examples for values: Solidarity, Safety, a common enemy, life itself etc. Some sociologists: "People are not part of society"... they are just a requirement. Animals…
What's Max Weber's definition of sociology?
Sociology is about understanding social action and causal explanation of its course and consequences. Social action means that the subjective meaning the individual attaches to his behaviour takes account of the behaviour of others.
What does 'social' mean (formula)?
Free action + subjective meaning (one can explain his action) + oriented in others' behaviour
What's a simple example for social action?
Raising your hand in class is related to the others in the room.
What do Sociologists want to explain?
Why people do what they do and the patterns that emerge from the behaviour of individuals and its meaning.
Why should Sociology engage with questions of technology?
(official) Technology is influenced by society, but also the other way around Communication changes by technology Work life changes enormously Studying changes heavily Technology comes from society Inequality changes in relation to technology Technology often means a shift in power: Companies collect traces of people
What relations are there between AI and society?
Recommender systems in social media: Many people don't have any idea about it Ethics: Copyright issues, some societies don't allow certain AI systems Deep Fakes ChatGPT is the new encyclopedia Every member of society could profit from AI: Medical applications Work life will change: Assumptions that many jobs get lost High profile jobs - actually: growth of low paid, low skill jobs (2$/ day), classifying data Training an AI requires data, that can reflect a society's prejudices, norms, values, e…
Give a concrete example for misalignment between technology and society!
Recommender systems creating hate speech bubbles, reinforcing extreme views
What is sociology concerned with that AI is part of?
The human-made world
What is sociology not concerned with?
AI's technics like coding or datamining. However, sociologist start to try to achieve human alignment, thus, will augment data and work with norms and values. There can't be a technical solution to what answers we want from an AI. Also, these wishes differ from decade to decade and society to society.
Is sociology about how to be social or analyzing the social?
The latter. Understand, analyze and predict social behaviour.
What do you do if you take a look at AI from a sociological perspective?
Focus on how people act as parts of networks Take an analytic stance towards the human-made world by empirical research Understand social phenomena Provide knowledge for politicians, activists and developers (norms and values influencing a model).
What are the assumptions for looking at AI sociologically?
Technological change goes hand in hand with societal change Society is unthinkable without technology The use of technology depends on socio-cultural, political, legal, economic and organizational factors Users must integrate AI in their daily life ("Users matter")
What's necessary to fully understand AI?
To look into how AI shapes society
Are there purely technical aspects of AI?
No
What are the sociological spheres that cover all technical aspects of AI (4)?
Socio-political context Creation by specific people Organizational context Imaginaries about AI
What is meant by socio-political context as a reason why AI is not purely technical?
The socio-political context determines research and development the questions asked the solutions sought for and the means deemed legitimate when developing AI.
What is meant by the idea that AI is created by specific people which makes AI not purely technical?
Specific developers have specific experiences, specific competences, specific ideas and specific interests.
What is meant by organizational contexts than make AI not purely technical?
AI is developed and used within hierarchical structures, disposing of specific resources and serving different interests. E.g. ownership of data defines how a model can be created. Or: If Upper Austria hadn't decided to have an AI program, a lot of AI systems wouldn't be created by students.
How do presupposed ideas about AI make it not purely technical?
In order to create an AI system, one has to have an idea about what AI is, what it can and shall do, how and by whom it can be used. These ideas are part of how members of society see the world. E.g. ethics: How to use facial recognition technologies?
What are the aims of the course 'AI in society'?
Students strive for good AI Students see beyond technical questions of AI, look at own work and place it in the context of society. E.g. a system's success will probably depend on how much the system is used in society
What are the specific learning outcomes by the end of the course?
Ability to understand the various relations of society and technology, apply social science perspectives on technology so that one can discuss sociotechnical transformation reflect on the role of AI in society reflect upon one's own role as a future developer of AI.
What was the structure of the course?
Influence of technology on society Influence of society on technology Dynamic between societal and technological progress
What are the concepts discussed during the course's part 'Influence of technology on society' (6)?
Technology as constitutive element of society Socio-technical constellations Cultural lag Political technologies Fluid technologies Path dependency
What does the concept 'Technology as constitutive element of society' mean?
Technology is an integral part of society and constitutes social structure. It controls what our jobs look like and is the foundation of our everyday life, e.g. water, energy, mobility or communication infrastructures. Also, our society is based on in technical structures like regulations, organizations or contracts.
What observations does the concept 'Socio-technical constellations' include?
Technology has become taken for granted in everyday life, expresses culture and represents ways of thinking, so, which kind of technology is used for problem solving.
Give three examples of socio-technical constellations as opposed to thinking of society and technology as two different things!
Mobility: Prerequisite for our way of life Time: In order to organize our life in reference to time, we are in need of time measuring technologies Personal hygiene: availability of water infrastructure and norms and values linked to hygiene Such a socio-technical constellation could be considered a network.
What can human as well as AI but rather not usual technology possess?
Agency and technological fix
Since when has society become dependent on technology?
Industrial revolution Fire There was never a society without technology. So, the socio-technical constellations have always been there.
What are technology and society in relation to each other?
Inextricably interwoven
Is there technology without society?
No
Is there a society without technology?
No
What is a premis?
Synonym for assumtion
What occurs when one of two parts of culture, that are correlated, changes before or in greater degree than the other part does, thereby causing less adjustment between the two parts than existed previously?
Cultural lag
Of what sort can the independent variable in a cultural lag be?
Technological, economic, political, ideological or the like
In what position is cultural lag always discussed as?
Culture lagging behind technology
What steps does the theory of cultural lag call for (4)?
Identify at least two sociological variables Demonstrate that they are adjusted Determinate by date, that one has changed while the other has not, or that one has changed in greater degree than the other Show that the variables are less adjusted than before
What has often been the independent variable in a cultural lag?
A scientific discovery or a mechanical invention
An example for cultural lag?
The legal rights of women lagged behind the invention of the steam machine.
What's a common critique with the concept of cultural lag?
It's always the society that's seen as the problem ("Society has to keep up!"), when i could also be the other way round. The AI systems could also be tweaked such that the society profits from it. It could also be that technology has to change in case of a lag.
How can technology be judged when it comes to the theory of technological politics?
For the ways in which they can embody specific forms of power and autority. Technology is political in the sense that it changes society which is a realm of politics.
Can technology be political?
Yes, due to intended and unintended consequences. Example: Recommender systems are designed such that you stay on the site. But the used content is not exactly balanced regarding politics. It gets more and more extreme to keep you on the site. So, the company doesn't want to increase political views. Thus, it's an unintended consequence of their algorithm that you get extreme content.
Considering the politics in artefacts, what are technologies ways of building in our world?
Ways of building order
What two kinds of choices are there that can affect the relative distribution of power, authority and privilege?
Will a system be developed or not (see atomic energy)? Which features will the device have? We want to contain the unwanted repercussions!
Which options are there for technical system to enter a society?
The system settles an issue in a community The system requires a political order to work. E.g. "Nuclear power plants do not work in a democratic fashion. There has to be control authorities etc." They can't just be handed out to the people. AI? Does it imply a social structure? How will we use it? Who writes the algorithms? Who owns the data for training?
Give examples of the theory of technological politics (2)!
Robert Moses' bridges in the state of New York: They were intendedly built so low, that the poor people using busses couldn't reach these regions anymore. The tomato harvester invented at Berkeley: Unintended repercussions were, that they were sued a few years later, because their invention diminished the count of tomato farms and thousands of people lost their jobs. Also on the side, food preparation changed!
Fluid technologies are adaptable, flexible and responsive. They can be utilized in different contexts and for different requirements and needs.
3 attributes
What do fluid technologies allow for (4)?
Adaptation: System can be fit to specific purposes Interconnections: System can be connected to other system User orientation: System is designed in a way that it is easily accessible for as many people as possible Flexible: System allows modifications
How does the example of a non-fluid technology with a lamp go?
A solar-powered lamp was invented in France and sent to rural regions in Africa. However, it came as a set that couldn't be altered in any way. Moreover, if something broke, you had to send it back to France, which noone did. So, people couldn't adapt it to their needs which makes it a non-fluid technology.
What's the example of a fluid technology discussed in the lecture?
The Simbabwe bush pump.
What is understanding path dependency crucial for?
For managing technological progress
What's the idea behind the concept of path dependency?
New inventions depend on technological decisions of the past that cannot be ignored Example: Magnetic trains were developed and were quite promising, but the rails were only apt for regular trains, so they just didn't succeed. So, the currently used tech is not necessarily the best tech that could be engineered.
What are the self-reinforcing mechanisms of path dependency and what is meant by them?
Lock-in: Difficult to switch to alternatives due to early choices Network effects: A technology with a large user base will become dominant. E.g. Whatsapp, or: telephones only make sense if there's other people who use 'em, too. Or: X. Regulatory influence: Policies and standards steer development Historical inertia: Ingrained practices hinder new technologies Market dynamics: consumers and industry sustain technological paths
What's an example for the concept of path dependency?
The QWERTY keyboard: New keyboards depend on the spedific arrangement of letters done far back in the past. Never were - better - attempts (IBM, Apple) for a different layout, the Dvořák keyboard, accepted. This has societal reasons.
Give examples of AI influencing society and apply the sociological concepts about this matter!
Amazon HR example. How to deal with it? AMS algorithm: used data of people having been at AMS and especially, if they got a job or not. The system made predictions, how probable it is that a person gets a job. Political stance: People who have it harder should get even more support. Llama: Publicly accessible and modifyable LLM by facebook; limitation: lots of knowhow needed for modifying Alexa: Fluid or not? Yes in the way that users can use it the way they want and this is not what Amazon int…
Is a mobile phone a fluid technology?
Millions of apps, call people, use it as camera... On the other hand: very restricted, etc. For the future: Can my system be adapted by people? Often, devices are used in a different way as they were supposed to. Example: Using ChatGPT as a search engine. Engineers should give up to tell people how to use it if they want to use it differently!