The AI Futures project at DC Labs at the University of York, UK, investigates the impact of AI on the future of humanity, and ultimately aims to find ways to achieve desirable outcomes. The challenge is of course, that whilst the benefits of AI for humanity are vast, positive narratives are all too often crowded out by negative messaging, hyperbole and often, by fear. Whilst critically acknowledging and exploring the negative messages and the challenges posed by the growth of AI both in real-life and in science fiction, AI Futures aims to optimise our awareness of the positive impact of AI and the future of humanity. We are interested in the following questions:
What do we actually want from AI and related digital technology?
- How / will it make lives happier ?
- What does the future look like where we have that?
- What does it feel like at an individual level?
To answer these questions, AI Futures researchers work across social science and computer science, gathering and analysing largely qualitative data through interviews with leading academics, decision makers and thought-leaders to explore expert views experiences and understanding of AI which ultimately help to inform academic and creative output. Of course, the work of AI Futures is not confined to the DC Labs. AI and Society is a thematic focus of the University as a whole. Colleagues in the Science and Technology Studies Unit (SATSU) at York have long been working on interdisciplinary questions concerning the nature of technology and its effects on society. Alongside themes focused on biomifying lives, and the relationship between biomedicine and society, SATSU focuses on Living with Machines, More than Human Worlds and Storyworlds of Science: Futures, Past and Present.
DC Labs brings together over 100 partners and 30 researchers from multiple disciplines to deliver impact from research in the games and media industries.
Building on a major (£18 million) investment by three UK research councils, four universities, and over 80 collaborative partner organisations from industry, government and the third sector, we bring together over 30 world-class researchers across creative and scientific disciplines and take a multidisciplinary approach to tackling research challenges with a focus on real-world impact.
DC Labs provides our partners with new perspectives, leading to highly innovative ideas, technologies and solutions.
Emerging science and the future of humanity: AI Futures 