Look Who’s Talking! Interrogating the (in)visibilities of AI stakeholders within public discourse
PhD project of Rahel Winter
Who is talking is just as important as what they are saying – especially when the former impacts the latter. In public discussions of AI, held across both physical and digital spaces, this can take the form of a tech CEO, who is keen to attract new investors and thus presents their product as a solution to all the world’s problems. Alternatively, it could be an activist who has personally been disadvantaged by current day AI developments, now rallying to prevent further AI-related harms from happening. Beyond these two positions lie countless stories and narratives about AI, which are (re)produced by people and groups who hold a variety of stakes in the discussion and influence how those less familiar with the topic understand and react to this complex and rapidly evolving technology.
One space where these narratives are distributed to a wider audience is print and digital news reporting. Here, journalists and editors are able to draw the attention of their readers towards specific topics, and thus stakeholders, in turn drawing attention away from other agenda points and those who represent them. News reporting on AI showcases, by this logic, an incomplete chorus, whose missing voices can be found in online discussion spaces, but not in the vicinity of the general public. This thesis aims to shine a light on the stakeholders and narratives made (in)visible in news reporting on AI by examining three core components across these two spaces: the news outlets reporting on AI, the voices highlighted in these articles and the online spaces of those overlooked.
Contact
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp
ZeMKI, Center for Media, Communication and Information Research
University of Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-67620
Assistent Mrs. Schober: +49 421 218-67603
E-mail: andreas.hepp@uni-bremen.de
