Anouk DE JONG, University of Twente, Netherlands
Anne M. DIJKSTRA, University of Twente, Netherlands
The development and application of artificial intelligence (AI) has an increasing impact on society and on people’s daily lives. News media play an important role in informing members of the public about new developments in AI and what impact these developments might have on their lives. The aim of this research was to study how the expectations of experts in the field of AI are connected or disconnected with the expectations of the general public and what role news reports about AI play in this (dis)connection. For this purpose, first of all, six experts in the academic, professional and governmental field of AI were interviewed about their expectations for the development of AI and its social implications. In a second study, a media analysis was conducted to analyse how articles in the main Dutch newspapers portray AI and its impacts. Finally, focus groups with Dutch citizens will be conducted in spring 2021 to learn what their expectations of AI are and how these expectations are influence by news media.
With this analysis, we hope to bring out key topics and concepts that can help to create a better understanding of the science-society relationship and, in particular, the science-media relationship in the case of AI research. The preliminary results of the expert interviews and the media analysis indicate that experts and newspaper articles often highlight similar issues related to AI. These issues include the increasing power of large technology companies, the risk of biases in algorithms which can contribute to discrimination, and the use of targeting algorithms, which may lead to the creation of internet bubbles and an increased spread of fake news. Even though they discuss similar topics, newspaper articles frequently focus only on either the positive or the negative aspects of AI, whereas the experts added more nuance in their expectations.