Climate change and the political pathways of AI

Author(s)

Mark Coeckelbergh, Henrik Skaug Sætra

Abstract

It is generally thought that artificial intelligence (AI) has a significant impact on politics and democracy. Meanwhile, the technology is also often hailed a solution to key societal and environmental challenges. It raises questions regarding, for example, how we can and should deal with climate change. This article links and discusses these issues by putting them in the context of a technocracy-democracy dilemma and by using the concept of critical junctures. Then it identifies two political pathways of AI and critically discusses their underlying assumptions. This offers a useful framework for further discussion of the relations between AI, climate change, and democracy, and enables the examination of important issues for the politics of technology, such as the role of human expertise vis-à-vis artificial intelligence, the problems raised by techno-solutionism, and the question at what level of governance AI and climate change should be addressed.

Organisation(s)

Department of Philosophy

External organisation(s)

Østfold University College

Journal

Technology in Society

Volume

75

ISSN

0160-791X

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102406

Publication date

11-2023

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

603122 Philosophy of technology

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Education, Human Factors and Ergonomics, Business and International Management, Sociology and Political Science

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 13 - Climate Action

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/9b5bdb32-b812-4061-b68a-39bc2d404556