Artificial Intelligence Technologies and Practical Normativity/Normality: Investigating Practices beyond the Public...

Area of Science:

• International Relations (IR)
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Governance
• Sociology of Norms

Background:

• Current norm research in IR inadequately addresses AI's impact on normative substance.
• Existing studies predominantly focus on public norm emergence and pre-set normativity, overlooking practical, practice-based normality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a research agenda for understanding AI's role in shaping practical normativity and normality.
• To examine how AI design and usage practices, often outside public view, generate norms.
• To analyze the interplay between normality and normativity in AI-driven contexts.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of AI's influence on norm formation.
• Critique of existing International Relations norm research frameworks.
• Proposal of a new research program focusing on AI and practical normativity/normality.

Main Results:

• AI technologies create norms through operational practices, often beyond public scrutiny.
• The interplay between normality (standard practices) and normativity (oughtness) is crucial for understanding AI's normative impact.
• Over-reliance on AI may diminish human agency and introduce non-human generated normativity.

Conclusions:

• AI presents a significant, under-researched challenge for norm studies.
• New theoretical perspectives are needed to grasp AI's normative influence and inform AI regulation.
• The study highlights the need to consider AI's impact on both established and emerging norms in international relations.