Enabling ‘AI’? The situated production of commensurabilities

Jaton, Florian; Sormani, Philippe

doi:10.1177/03063127231194591

Soc Stud Sci

2023

DOI: 10.1177/03063127231194591

|View full text |Cite

Enabling ‘AI’? The situated production of commensurabilities

Florian Jaton,

Philippe Sormani

Abstract: How can we examine so-called ‘artificial intelligence’ (‘AI’) without turning our backs on the STS tradition that questions both notions of artificiality and intelligence? This special issue attempts a step to the side: Instead of considering ‘AI’ as something that does or does not exist (and then taking a position on its benefits or harms), its ambition is to document, in an empirical and agnostic way, the performances that make, sometimes, ‘AI’ appear or disappear in situation. And it comes out, from this pe… Show more

Help me understand this report

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...

Citation Types

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Year Published

2023

2024

Publication Types

Select...

Article4

Relationship

Self Cite1

Independent3

Authors

Journals

Cited by 4 publications

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

AI in situated action: a scoping review of ethnomethodological and conversation analytic studies

Mlynář,

de Rijk,

Liesenfeld

et al. 2024

AI & Soc

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite its elusiveness as a concept, ‘artificial intelligence’ (AI) is becoming part of everyday life, and a range of empirical and methodological approaches to social studies of AI now span many disciplines. This article reviews the scope of ethnomethodological and conversation analytic (EM/CA) approaches that treat AI as a phenomenon emerging in and through the situated organization of social interaction. Although this approach has been very influential in the field of computational technology since the 1980s, AI has only recently emerged as such a pervasive part of daily life to warrant a sustained empirical focus in EM/CA. Reviewing over 50 peer-reviewed publications, we find that the studies focus on various social and group activities such as task-oriented situations, semi-experimental setups, play, and everyday interactions. They also involve a range of participant categories including children, older participants, and people with disabilities. Most of the reviewed studies apply CA’s conceptual apparatus, its approach to data analysis, and core topics such as turn-taking and repair. We find that across this corpus, studies center on three key themes: openings and closing the interaction, miscommunication, and non-verbal aspects of interaction. In the discussion, we reflect on EM studies that differ from those in our corpus by focusing on praxeological respecifications of AI-related phenomena. Concurrently, we offer a critical reflection on the work of literature reviewing, and explore the tortuous relationship between EM and CA in the area of research on AI.

show abstract

AI in situated action: a scoping review of ethnomethodological and conversation analytic studies

Mlynář,

de Rijk,

Liesenfeld

et al. 2024

AI & Soc

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Doubt or punish: on algorithmic pre-emption in acute psychiatry

Carboni,

Wehrens,

van der Veen

et al. 2024

AI & Soc

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Machine learning algorithms have begun to enter clinical settings traditionally resistant to digitalisation, such as psychiatry. This raises questions around how algorithms will be incorporated in professionals’ practices, and with what implications for care provision. This paper addresses such questions by examining the pilot of an algorithm for the prediction of inpatient violence in two acute psychiatric clinics in the Netherlands. Violence is a prominent risk in acute psychiatry, and professional sensemaking, corrective measures (such as patient isolation and sedation), and quantification instruments (such as the Brøset Violence Checklist, henceforth BVC) have previously been developed to deal with it. We juxtapose the different ways in which psychiatric nurses, the BVC, and algorithmic scores navigate assessments of the potential of future inpatient violence. We find that nurses approach violence assessment with an attitude of doubt and precaution: they aim to understand warning signs and probe alternative explanations to them, so as not to punish patients when not necessary. Being in charge of quantitative capture, they incorporate this attitude of doubt in the BVC scores. Conversely, the algorithmic risk scores import a logic of pre-emption into the clinic: they attempt to flag targets before warning signs manifests and are noticed by nurses. Pre-emption translates into punitive attitudes towards patients, to which nurses refuse to subscribe. During the pilots, nurses solely engage with algorithmic scores by attempting to reinstate doubt in them. We argue that pre-emption can hardly be incorporated into professional decision-making without importing punitive attitudes. As such, algorithmic outputs targeting ethically laden instances of decision-making are a cause for academic and political concern.

show abstract

Enabling ‘AI’? The situated production of commensurabilities

Jaton,

Sormani

2023

Soc Stud Sci

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

How can we examine so-called ‘artificial intelligence’ (‘AI’) without turning our backs on the STS tradition that questions both notions of artificiality and intelligence? This special issue attempts a step to the side: Instead of considering ‘AI’ as something that does or does not exist (and then taking a position on its benefits or harms), its ambition is to document, in an empirical and agnostic way, the performances that make, sometimes, ‘AI’ appear or disappear in situation. And it comes out, from this perspective, that 'AI' could be considered a vast commensuration undertaking.

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Enabling ‘AI’? The situated production of commensurabilities

Cited by 4 publications

References 42 publications

AI in situated action: a scoping review of ethnomethodological and conversation analytic studies

AI in situated action: a scoping review of ethnomethodological and conversation analytic studies

Doubt or punish: on algorithmic pre-emption in acute psychiatry

Enabling ‘AI’? The situated production of commensurabilities

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About