RUDN journal of Sociology (Oct 2024)
Technological discourse in the Russian media: Main strategies for representing artificial intelligence
Abstract
Public perception of artificial intelligence may not coincide with its actual capabilities, but it plays the key role in how algorithms are developed, implemented, used and regulated. Mass media are not bystanders to this perception but shape public opinion: they influence attitudes towards technologies by setting the agenda and framing news. Given the fact that the issues of artificial intelligence have become increasingly requested in search engines and discussed on news resources in 2023-2024, we need to focus on the dominants of technological discourse and control over the transformation of society under the influence of new technological forms/orders. The sociological study conducted by the authors aimed at identifying representations and strategies for constructing the image of artificial intelligence in the Russian media under the active implementation and routinization of algorithmic technologies. The study was based on the discourse analysis as developed by sociology of knowledge - to understand how social actors form and use discursive strategies to realize their own interests. The article presents the results of the analysis, showing how the media represent artificial intelligence, which actors participate in the discussion and what meta-frames for the technology the media use. Thus, the authors mention that the news discourse at the time of the study was not sensitive to the potential risks of algorithms: possible negative consequences were considered less often than advantages, and the list of threats was usually incomplete and rather hyperbolic. The authors focus on the tendency to perceive artificial intelligence systems as superior to human capabilities, which can lead to the anthropomorphization of technical progress, and, therefore, to new ethical and social challenges.
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