Technological Expectations and the Making of Europe

Abstract

In a case study approach, the paper traces how technological expectations have been influential in the creation of European institutions, R&D programmes and regulatory instruments and how they have contributed to processes of European integration. The first case study shows how the promises of a coming ‘Atomic Age’ have been mobilized to support the foundation of the European Atomic Energy Community and, thus, contributed to European integration in the post-WW2 era. The second case study analyses how the security stream within the EU’s framework programmes for R&D is shaped by the promise of ‘technosecurity’ and enacts the normative claim of the EU’s security integration in the post-Cold War era. The third case study analyses how the EU’s AI strategy and AI act articulates the vision of a ‘human-centric AI’ and how this vision is related to the EU’s current attempt to restore citizens’ trust in times of crisis.

Imagining and governing artificial intelligence: the ordoliberal way—an analysis of the national strategy ‘AI made in Germany’

“…Here, the aim is to manage the production of risks 'upstream', to inject societal and ethical considerations into the innovation process and to ensure that the political aims of and concerns with AI are integrated as they unfold. Understood as a method, 'ethics by design' helps to realize the ethically and legally compliant development and application of AI-based systems by creating 'precise and explicit links between the abstract principles which the system is required to respect and the specific implementation decisions' (High-level Group on Artificial Intelligence 2019, 21, see also Hälterlein 2021b). By adopting this 'technological fix' approach from the AI HLEG, the strategy envisions a soft regulatory tool that is in line with the market principle and may even become a unique selling point of an 'AI made in Germany'.…”

West Darrel M and Allen John R (2020) Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

“…The accumulation of scientific knowledge also contributes to solving real-world problems (Fuller, 2005). Moreover, modernization theory envisions a social process coupled with economic improvement and, as a result of technological developments, that contributes to social development as well (Hälterlein, 2023;Misa et al, 2003). AI technology is applied science that offers social benefits through economic development (Biegelbauer, 1998).…”

“…However, AI technology should not be the final determinant in enhancing human development (Cross, 2018). It can offer enhancements to decision making and resource allocation where there are human limitations (Hälterlein, 2023), but humans still play a pivotal role in making ethical decisions. It is this theme that pervades Darrell M. West and John R. Allen's Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence.…”