scholarly journals Creating the Technological Saviour: Discourses on AI in Europe and the Legitimation of Super Capitalism

2021 ◽  
pp. 145-159
Author(s):  
Benedetta Brevini
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Hegemonic Discourse ◽  
Ideological Discourse ◽  
Dominant Ideologies

Scholars in political economy of communication such as Vincent Mosco have showed how discourses around digital technologies have historically been constructed as modern myths with major references to utopian worlds and possibilities. Myths, conceived as the dominant ideologies of our time become powerful devices that normalise conventional wisdom into ‘common sense’ thus making the conception of alternatives impossible. This chapter aims to analyse the ideological discourse on Artificial Intelligence and its relevance in legitimising the hegemony of capitalism. From its beginnings in the fifties, Artificial Intelligence has been surrounded by evocative claims about the imminent creation of a machine capable of surpassing the potentials of humankind. This chapter aims to establish what hegemonic discourse around the concept of AI is emerging in Europe and what are the myths employed to construct such discourse.

scholarly journals AI cheerleaders: Public relations, neoliberalism and artificial intelligence

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clea Bourne
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Growth Strategies ◽  
Corporate World ◽  
National Competitiveness ◽  
Neoliberal Capitalism ◽  
Communications Theory

Public relations’ (PR) professional habitus is defined by a relentless focus on optimism and futurity. This professional habitus renders PR indispensable to the corporate world after crisis, when new, potentially controversial, growth strategies must be sold-in to stakeholders. This article argues that PR’s professional habitus is heavily influenced by neoliberalism, an ideology which ‘confidently identifies itself with the future’. The discussion is timely, as 21st-century neoliberal capitalism becomes redefined by artificial intelligence (AI). The article combines PR theory, communications theory and political economy to consider the changing shape of neoliberal capitalism, as AI becomes naturalised as ‘common sense’ and a ‘public good’. The article explores how PR supports AI discourses, including promoting AI in national competitiveness and promoting ‘friendly’ AI to consumers, while promoting Internet inequalities. The article concludes that the PR profession’s myopia regarding the implications of promoting AI and neoliberalism is shaped by poor levels of diversity in the PR profession.

A fully automated conversational agent with artificial intelligence capabilities (Youper) for treating depression and anxiety: A nonrandomized feasibility trial (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Hamilton Vargas ◽  
Thiago Antonio Marafon ◽  
Diego Fernando Couto ◽  
Ricardo Giglio ◽  
Marvin Yan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Feasibility Trial ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Conversational Agents ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression ◽  
Viable Solution

BACKGROUND Mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety disorders, are significant global concerns. Many people with these conditions don't get the help they need because of the high costs of medical treatment and the stigma attached to seeking help. Digital technologies represent a viable solution to these challenges. However, these technologies are often characterized by relatively low adherence and their effectiveness largely remains empirical unverified. While digital technologies may represent a viable solution for this persisting problem, they often lack empirical support for their effectiveness and are characterized by relatively low adherence. Conversational agents using artificial intelligence capabilities have the potential to offer a cost-effective, low-stigma and engaging way of getting mental health care. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of Youper, a mobile application that utilizes a conversational interface and artificial intelligence capabilities to deliver cognitive behavioral therapy-based interventions to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in adults. METHODS 1,012 adults with symptoms of depression and anxiety participated in a real-world setting study, entirely remotely, unguided and with no financial incentives, over an 8-week period. Participants completed digital versions of the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) at baseline, 2, 4, and 8 weeks. RESULTS After the eight-week study period, depression (PHQ-9) scores of participants decreased by 48% while anxiety (GAD-7) scores decreased by 43%. The RCI was outside 2 standard deviations for 93.0% of the individuals in the PHQ-9 assessment and 90.7% in the GAD-7 assessment. Participants were on average 24.79 years old (SD 7.61) and 77% female. On average, participants interacted with Youper 0.9 (SD 1.56) times per week. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that Youper is a feasible, acceptable, and effective intervention for adults with depression and anxiety. CLINICALTRIAL Since this study involved a nonclinical population, it wasn't registered in a public trials registry.

scholarly journals Applications of Robotics, AI, and Digital Technologies During COVID-19: A Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Zhuo Zhao ◽  
Yangmyung Ma ◽  
Adeel Mushtaq ◽  
Abdul M. Azam Rajper ◽  
Mahmoud Shehab ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Rapid Diagnosis ◽  
Quick Response ◽  
Virus Spread ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Public Areas ◽  
Potential Impact

Abstract Many countries have enacted a quick response to the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing existing technologies. For example, robotics, artificial intelligence, and digital technology have been deployed in hospitals and public areas for maintaining social distancing, reducing person-to-person contact, enabling rapid diagnosis, tracking virus spread, and providing sanitation. In this paper, 163 news articles and scientific reports on COVID-19-related technology adoption were screened, shortlisted, categorized by application scenario, and reviewed for functionality. Technologies related to robots, artificial intelligence, and digital technology were selected from the pool of candidates, yielding a total of 50 applications for review. Each case was analyzed for its engineering characteristics and potential impact on the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, challenges and future directions regarding the response to this pandemic and future pandemics were summarized and discussed.

Das Zeitalter der Künstlichen Intelligenz als Herausforderung für die Parlamente

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-181
Author(s):  
Arne Pilniok
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Processes Of Change ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
Democratic Representation ◽  
Government Administration ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
The Government

The digital transformation is permanently changing the government, administration, and society . This process is being intensified by the much-discussed technologies of artificial intelligence, and poses a variety of challenges for parliaments and indirectly for parliamen­tary studies . Their different dimensions have not been discussed comprehensively so far, although the technological developments affect all parliamentary functions and their prem­ises . This article systematizes and structures the various effects of the age of artificial intel­ligence on parliamentary democracy . Namely, the conditions of democratic representation change, the innovation-friendly regulation of digital technologies becomes a parliamentary task, parliamentary control has to be adjusted to the use of algorithms and artificial intelli­gence in government and administration, and possibly, the epistemological and organiza­tional structures of parliamentary work might have to be adapted . This provides starting points for future detailed analyses to adequately capture these processes of change and to accompany them from different disciplinary perspectives .

TAX ADMINISTRATION IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY: PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 152-158
Author(s):  
Olga Valentinovna MANDROSHCHENKO ◽  
◽  
Sergey Valentinovich BOGACHOV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
Pharmaceutical Market ◽  
Information Space ◽  
Tax Administration ◽  
Rfid Tags ◽  
Qr Codes ◽  
Online Sales ◽  
Leading Position

In the field of the use of digital technologies in tax administration, Russia occupies a leading position. The main results of the work of the Federal Tax Service of Russia in this direction are increasing tax collection, bringing business out of the shadows through the introduction of a system for controlling VAT refunds (ASK VAT-2), online sales registers, marking goods with RFID tags (fur market) and QR codes (pharmaceutical market), electronic offices of taxpayers. However, the prospects for the introduction of digital technologies in the field of tax administration are associated with the construction of the architecture of a single information space through the use of blockchain technologies and artificial intelligence, which is reflected in this article.

Behavior Analytics Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yana Manyuk ◽  
Kalpana Beesabathuni
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Digital Technologies

Socio-humanitarian framework for evaluating innovations in the field of artificial intelligence

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.N. Raikov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Main Emphasis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Value Orientations ◽  
Analytical Review ◽  
The Impact

The paper addresses the issue of identification the social and humanitarian grounds for constructing criteria for assessing the impact of various factors on the development of innovations using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The analysis of basic concepts, standards and criteria for evaluating innovations has been carried out; an analytical review of foreign scientific publications was made. It is shown that modern systems for assessing innovations related to digital technologies and AI place the main emphasis on technological factors in the development of innovations. Social value orientations, including defining the ethical dimensions and social consequences of the malicious use of AI was identified; the analysis of innovation models in the context of quality management and differentiation of semantics of AI models is carried out. As a result, a classification of various types of AI was constructed, taking into account the social and humanitarian grounds for constructing criteria for assessing the impact of various factors on the development of innovations in the field of AI. It allows to increase the reputation potential of companies developing AI systems and AI systems themselves, to counter negative trends in the field of ethics associated with the use of digital technologies and AI.

6. Heuristic computing

2016 ◽  
pp. 104-118
Author(s):  
Subrata Dasgupta
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Heuristic Search ◽  
Heuristic Algorithms ◽  
Heuristic Rules ◽  
Sense Experience ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
The Difference

Many ordinary problems and everyday activities are not conducive to algorithmic solutions. Yet, people do perform these tasks and solve such problems, so what other computational means are available to perform such tasks? The answer is to resort to a mode of computing that deploys heuristics—rules, precepts, principles, hypotheses based on common sense, experience, judgement, analogies, informed guesses, etc., which offer promise but are not guaranteed to solve problems. Heuristic computing encompasses both heuristic search and heuristic algorithms. ‘Heuristic computing’ explains a meta-heuristic called ‘satisficing’; the difference between exact and heuristic algorithms; how heuristics is used in artificial intelligence; weak and strong methods; and how to interpret heuristic rules.

Common-sense reasoning, theories of

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Horty
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Scientific Reasoning ◽  
Logical Framework ◽  
Applied Logic ◽  
Common Sense Reasoning ◽  
New Information ◽  
Logical Study ◽  
Reasoning Agent

The task of formalizing common-sense reasoning within a logical framework can be viewed as an extension of the programme of formalizing mathematical and scientific reasoning that has occupied philosophers throughout much of the twentieth century. The most significant progress in applying logical techniques to the study of common-sense reasoning has been made, however, not by philosophers, but by researchers in artificial intelligence, and the logical study of common-sense reasoning is now a recognized sub-field of that discipline. The work involved in this area is similar to what one finds in philosophical logic, but it tends to be more detailed, since the ultimate goal is to encode the information that would actually be needed to drive a reasoning agent. Still, the formal study of common-sense reasoning is not just a matter of applied logic, but has led to theoretical advances within logic itself. The most important of these is the development of a new field of ‘non-monotonic’ logic, in which the conclusions supported by a set of premises might have to be withdrawn as the premise set is supplemented with new information.

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