AI as a hatred of democracy? An art and design point of view
Contexte
Communication avec Florie Souday (ENS Paris-Saclay) au colloque international « AI and Education for Democracy », UNESCO EVA Chair, Université Côte d’Azur, Nice.
Résumé
Available from 2021 for as many people as possible, machine learning has created several issues for schools (ie. teaching objectives, exams, etc.). At the same time, these generative technologies are questioning the foundations of democracy, challenging notions of veracity, privacy, ownership and shared values. With its twofold American and Chinese hegemony, AI has become an insidious cultural model for the rest of the world. It doesn’t lend itself well to the development of democracy – if we define this concept as a dynamic principle that “thwarts the normal distribution of power” (Jacques Rancière). What reconfigurations are needed to ensure that AI is not a threat but an opportunity for democracy? How can we redefine education to achieve this objective?
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The aim is to analyze how artificial intelligence is leading us to reflect on the conditions and scope of an education for democracy in fields as diverse as health, schools, art, politics, etc.
Artificial intelligence is now present in every aspect of our lives, from the most individual to the most collective, from the most intimate to the most public spheres of our lives. From healthcare to education, from finance to the arts, it seems that no area of human activity can escape it.
However, this ubiquitous development of artificial intelligence is raising many questions in our democratic societies.
Of course, some questions that directly relate to our rights need to be asked, such as those concerning the protection of personal data or surveillance. However, more broadly, the question arises of the links between artificial intelligence and education for democracy. The French newspaper, Libération, recently suggested that the development of artificial intelligence in the field of politics was comparable to a “dangerous liaison”. More broadly, the conference will explore the field of politics by examining the relationship between artificial intelligence and education for democracy, notably as it applies to the generations born with artificial intelligence (digital natives), for whom AI is commonplace.
The aim is to analyze how artificial intelligence is leading us to reflect on the conditions and scope of an education for democracy in fields as diverse as health, schools, art, politics, etc.
This international and interdisciplinary conference is the opportunity for different specialists to address this very issue from both theoretical and practical angles, and even to apply it to specific case studies.
The challenge of the conference is to examine the conditions under which we can envision an ethics linked with artificial intelligence that articulates the notion of care with Artificial Intelligence, meaning that it allows us to care for each other and for the democratic institutions that bind us together, as per the definition suggested by Joan Tronto in her book Caring Democracy. In other words, we will investigate the relationship between artificial intelligence and education for democracy, not as a program, but rather a project, to use the distinction drawn by Jean-François Lyotard (1993). This education is not predetermined, but rather speculative. It opens the field of possibilities and gives permission to try out new ideas without imposing them or imposing certain predetermined worldviews.