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Narrative dynamics in European Commission AI policy—Sensemaking, agency construction, and anchoring

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  • Frans af Malmborg

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is arguably one of the most powerful and disruptive technologies of our times which may pose challenges as well as opportunities to contemporary political organizations. Studying AI from a lens of perceived uncertainty, this article studies the policy response of the European Commission toward this fast‐paced emerging technology. By empirically focusing on the Commission's policy process from start to end, from initial communication to concrete proposal, the article shows how different types of narratives are used to construct the new policy area of AI policy. A novel theoretical framework is constructed building on a combination of narrative organizational studies and narrative policy studies, displaying how narratives play a key role in organizational sensemaking, agency construction and anchoring. The paper finds that the Commission broadly makes sense of AI technologies with a future‐oriented discourse, establishes agency to existing and new forms of political organizing and anchors the policy response within the overarching frame of the EU single market policy. The main contribution of the paper is that it shows how political organizations settles uncertainty through narratives and sketches a way forward through establishing policy goals and anchoring them within pre‐existing lines of political mobilization. Podría decirse que la inteligencia artificial (IA) es una de las tecnologías más poderosas y disruptivas de nuestro tiempo que puede plantear desafíos y oportunidades para las organizaciones políticas contemporáneas. Al estudiar la IA desde una perspectiva de incertidumbre percibida, este artículo estudia la respuesta política de la Comisión Europea hacia esta tecnología emergente de ritmo acelerado. Al centrarse empíricamente en el proceso de políticas de la Comisión de principio a fin, desde la comunicación inicial hasta la propuesta concreta, el artículo muestra cómo se utilizan diferentes tipos de narrativas para construir la nueva área política de la política de IA. Se construye un marco teórico novedoso basado en una combinación de estudios organizacionales narrativos y estudios de políticas narrativas, que muestra cómo las narrativas juegan un papel clave en la creación de sentido organizacional, la construcción de agencias y el anclaje. El documento encuentra que la Comisión da sentido en términos generales a las tecnologías de IA con un discurso orientado al futuro, establece una agencia para las formas nuevas y existentes de organización política y ancla la respuesta política dentro del marco general de la política del mercado único de la UE. La principal contribución del artículo es que muestra cómo las organizaciones políticas resuelven la incertidumbre a través de narrativas y esbozan un camino a seguir estableciendo objetivos políticos y anclándolos dentro de líneas preexistentes de movilización política. 人工智能(AI)可以说是我们这个时代最强大和最具颠覆性的技术之一,它可能给当代政治组织带来挑战和机遇。本文从感知不确定性的视角研究人工智能,分析了欧盟委员会对这一快节奏新兴技术的政策响应。通过从实证上聚焦于从开始到结束、从最初的沟通到具体的提案这一期间欧盟委员会的政策过程,本文展示了不同类型的叙事如何被用于建构人工智能政策这一新政策领域。在叙事组织研究和叙事政策研究相结合的基础上构建了一个新颖的理论框架,展示了叙事如何在组织意义建构、能力建构(agency construction)和锚定(anchoring)中发挥关键作用。本文发现,欧盟委员会将人工智能技术的意义建构为未来导向的话语,对现有和新形式的政治组织建立能力,并将政策响应锚定在欧盟单一市场政策的总体框架内。本文的主要贡献在于展示了政治组织如何通过叙事来应对不确定性,并通过制定政策目标和将其锚定在预先存在的政治动员路线中,进而概述未来方向。

Suggested Citation

  • Frans af Malmborg, 2023. "Narrative dynamics in European Commission AI policy—Sensemaking, agency construction, and anchoring," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 40(5), pages 757-780, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:revpol:v:40:y:2023:i:5:p:757-780
    DOI: 10.1111/ropr.12529
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Inga Ulnicane & Tero Erkkilä, 2023. "Politics and policy of Artificial Intelligence," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 40(5), pages 612-625, September.
    2. Jongheon Kim, 2023. "Traveling AI‐essentialism and national AI strategies: A comparison between South Korea and France," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 40(5), pages 705-728, September.

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