AI, a wicked problem for cultural policy? Pre-empting controversy and the crisis of cultural participation

Abstract

This article explores the practice of pre-empting controversy as an example of the wicked problem of cultural participation in the digital media. Drawing on science and technology studies (STS), research into the history of cybernetics, artificial intelligence (AI), and policy studies, it argues that the ongoing digital transformation and the expansion of the algorithmic public sphere does not solve but amplifies the problem of cultural participation, challenging the "participatory turn" in cultural policy, defined as cultural policy's re-orientation to encourage participation of different stakeholders at different stages of policymaking. This process is analysed through two cases: the postponing of a retrospective exhibition of the painter Philip Guston in the United States and the pre-emptive ban of a public art project centred on a monument for the Soviet Lithuanian writer Petras Cvirka in Lithuania.

The Insecure Virus Contamination to Terrorism in Society 5.0 in Indonesia’s Digital Space

“…In addition, sensations and controversies have a powerful effect if the perpetrator is someone who is considered to have a large following or mass base, especially religious figures affiliated with certain socio-religious organizations. This is because the sensations and controversies that carried out have played a role in causing slander and confusion in the religious aspect in society until finally the community experiences chaos and potential conflicts of division (Rindzevičiūtė 2022).…”