AI and Future Society Research Project
An inaugural research initiative examining the governance, ethics, and social implications of artificial intelligence — with a focus on AI's effects on scholarly communication, knowledge production, and academic publishing.
This project is currently in its initial planning and scoping phase. The lead research center — the Center for AI and Future Society — is expected to be formally established in 2025. Researchers interested in contributing to this project are invited to contact the Institute.
About the Project
The AI and Future Society Research Project is the inaugural initiative of the Center for AI and Future Society. It addresses the broad question of how artificial intelligence — as a technology, a governance challenge, and a social phenomenon — is reshaping human institutions, knowledge systems, and futures.
The project's scope encompasses three intersecting themes: AI governance (how AI systems are regulated, accountable, and governed at institutional, national, and international levels); AI ethics (the normative dimensions of AI development, including fairness, transparency, privacy, and autonomy); and AI in scholarship (how AI systems are being integrated into academic research, publishing, and communication, and what governance challenges this integration creates).
The project takes an explicitly interdisciplinary approach, bringing together researchers from technology studies, political science, philosophy, communication studies, and information science. It aims to produce research that is both academically rigorous and policy-relevant.
Key Research Questions
How are AI systems being governed and regulated across different national and institutional contexts, and what are the implications of governance divergence?
What ethical frameworks are most appropriate for evaluating the fairness, transparency, and accountability of AI systems deployed in public and academic contexts?
How is AI integration in academic publishing — including AI-generated text, AI-assisted peer review, and AI-based editorial tools — reshaping scholarly communication norms and practices?
What governance frameworks are needed to address the use of large language models in academic research and publishing?
How do young people experience and understand AI systems, and what does this mean for digital citizenship, education, and governance?
What are the long-term social and epistemic implications of delegating knowledge-production tasks to AI systems?
Interested in contributing?
The project is seeking researchers with expertise in AI, digital governance, STS, and related fields.