Ivana Stepanović

Institute of Advanced Studies Kőszeg

"From Commodity Fetishism to Environmental Empathy: Using AI for Ecological Cost Assessment"

This paper explores possibilities for targeted application of artificial intelligence to address the issue of excessive consumption. Using AI to trigger environmental empathy through sensory experiences can help revel the supressed processes of extraction, exploitation, and pollution inherent in 'commodity fetishism'. The use of AI for commercial purposes, such as algorithmic recommendation systems or generative AI models further exacerbates excessive consumption not only of technologies themselves, but also resources needed for their production and maintenance. Instead, AI can be employed in a more restrained and targeted manner while prioritising ecological well-being over economic growth. AI's capability to analyse data and generate predictions can be harnessed for comprehensive environmental cost assessments. By leveraging AI to predict and quantify but also visualise the future ecological ramifications of products and services, it would be possible to reveal the hidden costs of production-consumption-waste cycles. These assessments can stimulate sensory experiences that foster empathy and a deeper understanding of environmental impacts. They can help consumers understand the value chain of products and make informed decisions or, at the governmental level, they can inform policy and regulatory frameworks for industrial projects. This research project uses the method of digital ethnography, involving long-term observation of video content on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. The aim was to examine the narratives of 'de-influencers'. The paper focuses on the visual and textual narrative building blocks exposing the hidden environmental costs and manipulation techniques behind consumer goods and promoting sustainable consumption. Finally, the paper demonstrates how AI can be deployed for more accurate risk assessments as well as their visualisations. These advanced assessments can empower individual consumers to make informed choices and assist states and corporate entities in making decisions based on environmental impacts and sustainability implications.

Bio

Ivana Stepanović is a research fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies Kőszeg and lecturer at the University of Pannonia, Hungary. She also serves as the Academic Coordinator of the UNESCO Chair for Culture Heritage Management and Sustainability. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Serbia, MA in Human Rights South-East Europe from University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and University of Bologna, Italy and BA in Philosophy from Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Serbia. Her teaching and research activities focus on digital ethnography of AI and social media, online activism, and the impact of artificial intelligence on societies.