Social Theory of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) applications are now being used in more and more areas of society. This is a conceptual challenge for sociology because it is still unclear which concepts can be used to adequately grasp the relationship between the social and AI. The project aims to take the first steps towards a social theory of AI. On the one hand, it draws on approaches from the sociology of technology and, on the other, on socialization theories and pragmatist concepts of “implicit knowledge”. Of central importance is a generalized concept of learning that can be used to articulate similarities and differences between human and machine learning. The academic purpose of a systematic social theory of artificial intelligence is to lay foundations for a sociological understanding of AI. The goal is to develp a differentiated concept of artificial intelligence that enables a more appropriate perception of the potentials and risks of AI than the widespread distorted image of AI as a ‘human-like machine’.
Main Research Interests
- Sociology of AI
- Sociological Theory
- Political Sociology
Curriculum Vitae
- 2011-2024 Research assistant at the universities of Düsseldorf and Münster
- 2015-2022 Editorial Assistant at a journal for sociological theory (“Zeitschrift für Theoretische Soziologie”)
- 2022-present: Co-Speaker of the section for sociological theory in the DGS
Publications and Presentations
- Anicker, F., Flaßhoff, G., & Marcinkowski, F. (2024). The Matrix of AI-Agency.On the Demarcation Problem in Social Theory (Authors’ Preprint): Forthcoming in “Sociological Theory”. SocArXiv Papers, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/zahpq
- Anicker, F., & Flaßhoff, G. (2024). Common-sense attributions of AI agency. Evidence from an experiment with ChatGPT. In M. W. Bauer & B. Schiele (Eds.), Routledge Studies in Science, Technology and Society. AI and common sense: Ambitions and frictions (179-194). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032626192
- Anicker, F. (2023). Sozialisierte Maschinen: Zur gesellschaftlichen Funktion von Künstlicher Intelligenz. Zeitschrift Für Theoretische Soziologie, 11(1), 79–105. https://doi.org/10.3262/ZTS2301079
- Anicker, F. (2023). Gestaltwandel der Technik? Techniksoziologische Reflexionen zu künstlicher Intelligenz. Jahrbuch Technikphilosophie, 9, 137–170. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748941767-137