Can critical policy studies outsmart AI? Research agenda on artificial intelligence technologies and public policy

Bibliographic Data

ID12985236
AuthorsRegine Paul (0000-0003-3562-7527, University of Bergen, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume16
Issue4
Pages497-509
Publication date2022-09-19
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Policy Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1946-0171 • E-ISSN: 1946-018X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19460171.2022.2123018
OpenAlexW4296780583
LanguageEN
Citations received25
References cited54

The insertion of artificial intelligence technologies (AITs) and data-driven automation in public policymaking should be a metaphorical wake-up call for critical policy analysts. Both its wide representation as techno-solutionist remedy in otherwise slow, inefficient, and biased public decision-making and its regulation as a matter of rational risk analysis are conceptually flawed and democratically problematic. To 'outsmart' AI, this article stimulates the articulation of a critical research agenda on AITs and public policy, outlining three interconnected lines of inquiry for future research: (1) interpretivist disclosure of the norms and values that shape perceptions and uses of AITs in public policy, (2) exploration of AITs in public policy as a contingent practice of complex human-machine interactions, and (3) emancipatory critique of how 'smart' governance projects and AIT regulation interact with (global) inequalities and power relations

Policy studies · Political science · Public policy · Research Policy · Sociology · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Law · Public Administration