Artificial Intelligence, Politics and Societies

This three-day international workshop, hosted by the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the University of Bologna, aims to promote critical reflection on the complex relationships between AI, politics and society.

This edition will focus on the recent proliferation of Generative Artificial Intelligence, acknowledging its multifaceted impact on different domains of human activity. The workshop posits that individuals interact with Generative AI technologies in different capacities, each with unique implications:

• As citizens: Participating in the polity through a range of political activities, including political mobilisation, supporting the work of political parties, and consuming news about politics.
• As workers: Working in a variety of public and private sectors, acquiring and using different skills, and facing different organisational processes and labour market developments.
• As consumers: Engaging with different infrastructures and platforms to acquire material goods and immaterial services, and developing different imaginaries and interactions around their consumption activities.

Through this tripartite lens, the workshop seeks to cultivate nuanced, interdisciplinary perspectives on the societal implications of Generative AI. It will explore how people interact with and understand Generative AI in political and social contexts, examining its role in shaping citizen, worker and consumer practices. This will include analysis of social interactions, collective imaginaries and the material artefacts that mediate these engagements.

By bringing together scholars from political science and sociology, this workshop aims to contribute critical insights to ongoing and emerging research and debate on the political and social implications of AI.