Change is Inevitable
With a little Ian Hacking, as a treat
Nothing is certain except death, taxes and change; and artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be at the centre of many discussions about change these days.
I suggested yesterday that we have two options as to how we conduct conversations about AI: either from a desire to clash opinions, or from a desire to have meaningful, calm, evidence-based and productive conversations. In either case, we generally have three options when responding to narratives and innovations: (i) accept and conform, (ii) ignore and continue, or (iii) reject and rebel.
This is the wording I chose when describing Ian Hacking’s “looping effects” for a graduate philosophy conference in 2021 (Kherroubi Garcia, Aitkenhead & Fantoni, 2021). The subject at hand was markedly different: it was about the options autistic people have before scientists’ claims about autism. But these are generally the options in the context of AI:
Accept and conform: Take for granted what the tech bros and ARSEs of AI claim; question nothing; and, if you’re feeling opportunistic, make a quick buck off it and sell some workshops on how to use generative AI tools — your heroes in Silicon Valley will thank you for it.
Ignore and continue: Whatever you’ve been doing your whole life, keep at it; you’re doing great. Let the pundits on the telly and influencers on social media say all they have to say about AI; it’s just not for you.
Reject and rebel: Don’t use AI; ban it! Burn it! Find everything wrong with how AI works —who funds it, who sells it, who uses it— and curse them all!
Those are my quick caricatures of what the persona following each option might look like — they’re a simplification of a simplification. But what Hacking’s framework provides us is the notion that there is a power imbalance between two parties; in his work between scientists and, e.g., autistic people; in our case, between giant tech firms and their users. And, unless you were at Trump’s presidential inauguration, you’re more likely a user, and those three options apply to you.
Whichever you see works for you, you are still part of our ever-changing social fabric; you are still making change happen, because change —like death and taxes— is inevitable.