Andreu Belsunces - Understanding technology hype through socio-technical fictions [EASST-4S 2024 presentation]

Understanding Technology Hype through Socio-technical Fictions Andreu Belsunces Gonçalves [email protected] www.engineering-fiction.org EASST / 4S - 2024 17th May 2024 - Amsterdam Technology hype as a situated phenomenon engineering-fiction.org Techno-financial capitalism ●Co-production of financial and technology industry ●Financial services comprise about 20% of the world's economy (in GDP) ●The industries that attracted greater investment in the last 5 years - reflecting both global trends and emerging opportunities a. Technology and Software: Driven by advancements in AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. b. Healthcare and Biotechnology: Boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing medical innovations. c. Renewable Energy: Increased focus on sustainability and reducing carbon footprints. d. Financial Technology (Fintech): Rapid adoption of digital payments and blockchain technology. e. E-commerce and Logistics: Expansion due to changing consumer habits and the rise of online shopping. engineering-fiction.org https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/the-2023-mckinsey-global-payments-report International Monetary Fund - World Investment Report 2023 Hype Exaggeration Hypertrophication of expectations Attention regime - urgency Closing window of opportunity Accelerated by financial rhythms Misleads individual and collective action Is composed of - Promissory statements (van Lente and Rip, 2017) - Expectations (Borup et al, 2006) - Technological metaphors (Wyatt, 2000) - Anticipation (Adams, Murphy & Clarke, 2009: 247) - Cultures of financialisation (Haiven, 2014) - Fictional expectations (Beckert, 2013, 2014, 2016) - Speculative imagination (Komporozos, 2022) engineering-fiction.org They bridge the existent and the inexistent through technology, they interface the present and the future Bareis, J., Roßmann, M., & Bordignon, F. (2023). Technology hype: Dealing with bold expectations and overpromising. TATuP-Zeitschrift für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Theorie und Praxis, 32(3), 10-71. Socio-technical Fictions Fictional representations "bring together what exists as 'facts' and imagined things, transposing the imaginary in a concrete shape" (Iser 1993) ●Mediated forms of imagination operating within and in the contours of technological emergence and stabilisation ●They are necessary for technological negotiation with uncertainty ●Fictions are not recognised as such - they are sheltered under technoscientific legitimacy ●They give shape to what does not exist by bridging imagination with reality engineering-fiction.org Socio-technical Fictions Epistemic - Offer intelligibility to emerging entities - Virtual sense of feasibility - Synchronise visions of the future Aesthetic - Create alteration in causal chains > Source of creativity - Open new courses of action > Produce novelty - Attracts attention - Re-enchant instrumental and rational practices Affective - Create anticipatory affective intensity (e.g. fear, anxiety, excitement, desirability) Behaviour - Coordinate behaviour & Decision making - In moderate intensity > gain visibility - hype (Galanos, 2022) - In high intensity (especially in researchers) > epistemic toxicity engineering-fiction.org Mobile World Congress - 2016 Worldcoin - a cyberlibertarian hype engineering-fiction.org ●Solution to a not-yet existent problem ●Response to the AGI existential risk “Worldcoin was founded with the mission of creating a globally-inclusive identity and financial network, owned by the majority of humanity. If successful, Worldcoin could considerably increase economic opportunity, scale a reliable solution for distinguishing humans from AI online while preserving privacy, enable global democratic processes, and show a potential path to AI-funded UBI”. Socio-technical fictions in Worldcoin engineering-fiction.org ●Makes a soft version of cyberlibertarian / TESCREAL visions intelligible & actionable ●Connects the future with the present ○Desirability, feasibility, profitability ○Anticipation ■Excitement among potential users and partners ■Concern among critics ●Attracts investment (240M over 3 rounds) ●Onboards users to the cyberlibertarian programme ●Synchronise visions of the future Thanks! Andreu Belsunces Gonçalves @abelsunces engineering-fiction.org