IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/polsoc/v40y2021i2p158-177..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Framing governance for a contested emerging technology:insights from AI policy
[The next space race is Artificial Intelligence]

Author

Listed:
  • Inga Ulnicane
  • William Knight
  • Tonii Leach
  • Bernd Carsten Stahl
  • Winter-Gladys Wanjiku

Abstract

This paper examines how the governance in AI policy documents have been framed as way to resolve public controversies surrounding AI. It draws on the studies of governance of emerging technologies, the concept of policy framing, and analysis of 49 recent policy documents dedicated to AI which have been prepared in the context of technological hype expecting fast advances of AI that will fundamentally change economy and society. The hype about AI is accompanied by major public controversy about positive and negative effects of AI. Against the backdrop of this policy controversy, governance emerges as one of the frames that diagnoses the problems and offers prescriptions. Accordingly, the current governance characterized by oligopoly of a small number of large companies is indicated as one of the reasons for problems such as lack of consideration of societal needs and concerns. To address these problems, governance frame in AI policy documents assigns more active and collaborative roles to the state and society. Amid public controversies, the state is assigned the roles of promoting and facilitating AI development while at the same time being a guarantor of risk mitigation and enabler of societal engagement. High expectations are assigned to public engagement with multiple publics as a way to increase diversity, representation and equality in AI development and use. While this governance frame might have a normative appeal, it is not specific about addressing some well-known challenges of the proposed governance mode such as risks of capture by vested interests or difficulties to achieve consensus.

Suggested Citation

  • Inga Ulnicane & William Knight & Tonii Leach & Bernd Carsten Stahl & Winter-Gladys Wanjiku, 2021. "Framing governance for a contested emerging technology:insights from AI policy [The next space race is Artificial Intelligence]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 40(2), pages 158-177.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:polsoc:v:40:y:2021:i:2:p:158-177.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14494035.2020.1855800
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hazel Si Min Lim & Araz Taeihagh, 2019. "Algorithmic Decision-Making in AVs: Understanding Ethical and Technical Concerns for Smart Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-28, October.
    2. Borrás, Susana & Edler, Jakob, 2020. "The roles of the state in the governance of socio-technical systems’ transformation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(5).
    3. Rotolo, Daniele & Hicks, Diana & Martin, Ben R., 2015. "What is an emerging technology?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1827-1843.
    4. Kuhlmann, Stefan & Stegmaier, Peter & Konrad, Kornelia, 2019. "The tentative governance of emerging science and technology—A conceptual introduction," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(5), pages 1091-1097.
    5. Borrás, Susana & Edler, Jakob, 2020. "The roles of the state in the governance of socio-technical systems' transformation," Discussion Papers "Innovation Systems and Policy Analysis" 65, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    6. Vesnic-Alujevic, Lucia & Nascimento, Susana & Pólvora, Alexandre, 2020. "Societal and ethical impacts of artificial intelligence: Critical notes on European policy frameworks," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(6).
    7. Lyall, Catherine & Tait, Joyce, 2019. "Beyond the limits to governance: New rules of engagement for the tentative governance of the life sciences," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(5), pages 1128-1137.
    8. Araz Taeihagh & Hazel Si Min Lim, 2019. "Governing autonomous vehicles: emerging responses for safety, liability, privacy, cybersecurity, and industry risks," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 103-128, January.
    9. Diercks, Gijs & Larsen, Henrik & Steward, Fred, 2019. "Transformative innovation policy: Addressing variety in an emerging policy paradigm," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 880-894.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eryn Rigley & Caitlin Bentley & Joshua Krook & Sarvapali D. Ramchurn, 2024. "Evaluating international AI skills policy: A systematic review of AI skills policy in seven countries," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(1), pages 204-217, February.
    2. Ariana Polyviou & Efpraxia D. Zamani, 2023. "Are we Nearly There Yet? A Desires & Realities Framework for Europe’s AI Strategy," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 143-159, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Janssen, Matthijs & Wanzenböck, Iris & Fünfschilling, Lea & Pontinakis, Dimitris, 2023. "Governance arrangements for the implementation of transformative innovation policy: Insights from a comparative case study," Papers in Innovation Studies 2023/13, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    2. Stahl, Bernd Carsten & Brooks, Laurence & Hatzakis, Tally & Santiago, Nicole & Wright, David, 2023. "Exploring ethics and human rights in artificial intelligence – A Delphi study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    3. Lindner, Ralf & Edler, Jakob & Hufnagl, Miriam & Kimpeler, Simone & Kroll, Henning & Roth, Florian & Wittmann, Florian & Yorulmaz, Merve, 2021. "Mission-oriented innovation policy: From ambition to successful implementation," Perspectives – Policy Briefs 02 / 2021, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    4. Edler, Jakob & Köhler, Jonathan Hugh & Wydra, Sven & Salas-Gironés, Edgar & Schiller, Katharina & Braun, Annette, 2021. "Dimensions of systems and transformations: Towards an integrated framework for system transformations," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S03/2021, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    5. Matthijs Jansen, 2022. "Legitimation and Effects of Mission-Oriented Innovation Policies: A Spillover Perspective," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 243(4), pages 7-28, December.
    6. Borrás, Susana & Edler, Jakob, 2020. "The roles of the state in the governance of socio-technical systems’ transformation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(5).
    7. Seokbeom Kwon & Jan Youtie & Alan Porter & Nils Newman, 2024. "How does regulatory uncertainty shape the innovation process? Evidence from the case of nanomedicine," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 262-302, February.
    8. Shuo Xu & Liyuan Hao & Xin An & Hongshen Pang & Ting Li, 2020. "Review on emerging research topics with key-route main path analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(1), pages 607-624, January.
    9. Vyacheslav V. Volchik & Elena V. Fursa, 2023. "Russian innovation system: Narratives and economic policy," Journal of New Economy, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 24(4), pages 22-40, January.
    10. Bellink, Miriam & Verburg, René W., 2023. "A system lock-in blocks the uptake of mixed sustainable Eucalyptus plantations in Brazil," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    11. Robinson, Douglas K.R. & Schoen, Antoine & Larédo, Philippe & Gallart, Jordi Molas & Warnke, Philine & Kuhlmann, Stefan & Ordóñez-Matamoros, Gonzalo, 2021. "Policy lensing of future-oriented strategic intelligence: An experiment connecting foresight with decision making contexts," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    12. Arjan J. Frederiks & Sílvia Costa & Boudewijn Hulst & Aard J. Groen, 2024. "The early bird catches the worm: The role of regulatory uncertainty in early adoption of blockchain’s cryptocurrency by fintech ventures," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(2), pages 790-823, March.
    13. Abi Saad, Elie & Tremblay, Nathalie & Agogué, Marine, 2024. "A multi-level perspective on innovation intermediaries: The case of the diffusion of digital technologies in healthcare," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    14. Kuhlmann, Stefan & Stegmaier, Peter & Konrad, Kornelia, 2019. "The tentative governance of emerging science and technology—A conceptual introduction," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(5), pages 1091-1097.
    15. Jackwerth, Thomas & Afghani, Nof & Daimer, Stephanie & Lindner, Ralf & Wittmann, Florian, 2023. "Public sector organisations as agents of transformations: A framework for analysing structural changes within Public Sector Organisations (PSO)," Discussion Papers "Innovation Systems and Policy Analysis" 80, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    16. Haessler, Philipp & Giones, Ferran & Brem, Alexander, 2023. "The who and how of commercializing emerging technologies: A technology-focused review," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    17. Marvin Henry & Julian Kirchherr & Rob Raven & Marko Hekkert, 2024. "Bottom‐up dynamics in circular innovation systems: The perspective of circular start‐ups," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 28(2), pages 320-338, April.
    18. Araz Taeihagh, 2021. "Governance of artificial intelligence [Application of artificial intelligence for development of intelligent transport system in smart cities]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 40(2), pages 137-157.
    19. Hopkins, Michael M. & Crane, Philippa & Nightingale, Paul & Baden-Fuller, Charles, 2019. "Moving from non-interventionism to industrial strategy: The roles of tentative and definitive governance in support of the UK biotech sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(5), pages 1113-1127.
    20. Douglas K. R. Robinson & Antoine Schoen & Philippe Larédo & Jordi Molas Gallart & Philine Warnke & Stefan Kuhlmann & Gonzalo Ordóñez-Matamoros, 2021. "Policy lensing of future-oriented strategic intelligence: An experiment connecting foresight with decision making contexts," Post-Print hal-03232913, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:polsoc:v:40:y:2021:i:2:p:158-177.. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/policyandsociety .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.