Between Heightened Confidence and Anxious Reservations

Thesis (M.A.) from the year 2021 in the subject Sociology - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,0, Free University of Berlin (Institute of Sociology), language: English, abstract: The thesis draws on the field of the sociology of expectations to highlight the role of shared societal expectations of AI in the diffusion of new technological innovation. It adds to the list of globally shared societal expectations of AI that are described in past research and publications, and analyses the communication of these expectations in twelve National AI Strategies. Lending from communication studies, lexical units that indicate positive or negative expectations regarding this disruptive technology are sought out to arrange countries according to their country-specific vision of AI. They are grouped according to whether they distribute a confident, reserved, or impartial vision of AI.