RHET AI Center auf der PCST 2023

Vom 12. bis zum 14. April 2023 findet in Rotterdam die Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference (PCST 2023) statt. Die diesjährige Konferenz steht unter dem Leitthema "Creating common ground". Hier geht es zur Tagungsseite.

Das RHET AI Center bietet im Vorprogramm der Konferenz am 11.04. von 14:00 bis 16:00 Uhr den Workshop "Grounding AI communication: Myths, imaginations, and realities" an. Der Workshop befasst sich mit den Herausforderungen der Wissenschaftskommunikation im Bereich der Künstlichen Intelligenz. Ziel des Workshops ist es, die Teilnehmer:innen dabei zu unterstützen, Narrative und Fiktionen in Forschung und Kommunikation effektiver einzusetzen und dabei mögliche Fallstricke zu vermeiden. Dabei werden aktuelle Erkenntnisse aus Rhetorik, Linguistik und Kulturwissenschaften einbezogen. Der Workshop wird von Markus Gottschling und Kim Luther vom RHET AI Center organisiert.

Abstract: Grounding AI communication: Myths, imaginations, and realities

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a thriving field, and its research is both complex and challenging.
Dealing with this, in science communication about AI, two contrasting strategies have emerged: on the one hand, communication focuses on explaining complex structures and relationships as precisely as possible. The results often turn out to be rather drab. On the other hand, in order to reduce complexity and make the topic more vivid, communicators resort to science fiction narratives, religious motifs, and mythologies, fantasies or conspiracy theories. As science and technology are invariably embedded in social processes, invoking these ideas comes with its own communicative baggage: when we use myths and imaginaries to create common ground, we activate frameworks in the addressees that we no longer control. The richness of context of these allusions goes far beyond the specific domain of AI communication – which is precisely why we need thorough grounding for our messages: "we must do more than just send it off. We need to assure ourselves that it has been understood as we intended it to be" (Clark/Brennan 1993).

The workshop aims to address our understanding of these communicative structures. Together we want to discuss the fictional associations that thrive in AI communication. Based on examples from culture, we are interested in finding out where imaginaries and narratives
originate – and how they influence communication (and even research). Then, through hands-on group work, we will use recontextualization techniques to produce well-grounded
communication examples. Through this, we aim at clarifying how narratives can be used, what advantages myths and fictions offer, and how pitfalls can be avoided. We aim to empower participants to use narratives that influence research, communication, and reception of AI more effectively. Current insights from rhetoric, linguistics, and cultural studies will be incorporated.

Am 12. April von 17:00 bis 18:15 Uhr organisiert das RHET AI Center zudem ein Roundtable zu dem Thema "Between Fact and Fiction. The Difficult quest for common ground in scicomm on AI". Ziel der Diskussion ist es, eine gemeinsame Basis für die öffentliche Debatte über Künstliche Intelligenz zu schaffen. Dabei sollen die unterschiedlichen Perspektiven von Expert:innen aus den Bereichen Computerwissenschaften, Mathematik, Medien- und Kulturwissenschaften einbezogen werden. Neben Olaf Kramer, Annette Leßmöllmann, Markus Gottschling vom RHET AI Center sind auch Beatrice Bonami, Tilman Gocht und Julia Merlot teil des Roundtables.

Abstract: Between Fact and Fiction. The Difficult quest for common ground in scicomm on AI

"None of my colleagues think that machines will ever gain consciousness. That’s just nothing we focus our research on." With these words, Machine Learning professor Robert Bamler recently tried to adjust a lively discussion about Artificial Intelligence (AI) at a Public Engagement event in Tübingen. Whereas machine learning research sees AI primarily as a useful tool, perceptions in public discourse are more strongly shaped by desires, fears and fanciful imaginations driven by narratives and myths.

Reaching an understanding between these perspectives is a complex task: already within research on AI difficulties of establishing common ground become apparent. After all, various disciplines are involved, from computer science and mathematics to media and cultural studies. Such differing backgrounds necessarily result in different assessments of whether AI should be explainable or not, whether AI is a black box or not, or even on how to define artificial intelligence. Finding common ground for a public discussion about AI therefore must incorporate the recontextualization of highly complex research, building mutual understanding within the disciplines and subsequently aiming at enabling an informed public discourse about AI.

In short opening statements, our speakers will discuss the possibilities and ramifications of communication about AI research from their perspectives. Then, we will try to create common ground live at PCST, involving the audience by addressing them in different roles: as non- experts, they are invited to share their own conceptions of AI via surveys and short Q&A sessions; and as researchers and practitioners of science communication, their expertise is needed in designing solution strategies. Together we will engage with both the question of how researchers from different disciplines can find common ground and the question of what role practitioners play in facilitating the establishment of such common ground between researchers as well as between science and the public.

RHET AI Center auf der PCST 2023

Beteiligte Institutionen

Gefördert durch