R:ETRO webinar – Technology as Monster

The first R:ETRO webinar (Reputation: Ethics, Trust, and Relationships at Oxford) of Trinity term 2022, hosted by Rita Mota, Intesa Sanpaolo Research Fellow, and Alan Morrison, Professor of Law and Finance at Oxford Saïd. Anne-Laure Fayard, Full Professor and ERA Chair in Social Innovation, Nova School of Business & Economics, discussed 'Technology-as-Monster: a generative metaphor to explore artificial intelligence possibilities and risks' (with Graham Dove). Abstract: The growing use of algorithmic tools and machine learning (ML), labeled as artificial intelligence (AI), generate both hope and fears. AI is described as promising solutions to complex problems from reimagining transport to enhancing medical diagnosis; or as tools of control, surveillance and techno-utopian power. These divergent views of technology have long been embraced. For some, technology offers a brighter, problem free future; while for others, the change technology brings is perceived as a dangerous threat to our humanity. In this essay, we build upon cultural studies and anthropology, we argue that historically, monsters were not necessarily evil, but typically hybrid. We adopt the metaphor of technology-as-monster, a trope familiar in media representations of unfamiliar technologies. This metaphor is generative as it allows us to simultaneously recognise the potential of AI while acknowledging its ever-looming risks and keeps us aware that our inventions have implications beyond those we foresee. For more information about the R:ETRO webinar series see https://oxsbs.link/3No1Jvd.