‘Using Design Fictions to explore perspectives on emergent technology’

School of History, Law and Social Sciences Research Seminar Series

Dr Alex Laffer 

In this presentation, Dr Laffer will present his novel approach to exploring citizen perspectives on emergent technology, drawing on work across three projects that have variously engaged with emotional AI, biometric data collection, and police uses of artificial intelligence, such as facial recognition and predictive policing. In these projects, using interactive fiction tools (Twine) and adopting ideas and approaches from Design Fiction, notably diegetic prototypes - designed objects or technologies that exist within a fictional world – he was able to present unfamiliar technology to citizens in understandable and meaningful ways. This narrative approach also encouraged immersion into the fictional world and empathy with protagonists, supporting a focus on people and social practices while exploring the impacts of new technologies on participants’ own lives. He will end with a short overview of some of the key themes emerging from the various focus group discussions, including anxieties around the impact of these technologies on human agency and social relationships; issues of trust in systems and operators; and concerns around accuracy, reinforcing bias and contributing to discrimination.   

Alexander Laffer is a Research Fellow at Bangor University (Artificial Intelligence (AI), Ethics & Policing in North Wales: Establishing Citizens’ Perspectives) and the University of Edinburgh (Critically Exploring Biometric AI Futures). He is a researcher and creative practitioner, exploring perspectives on emergent technology and digital media through his work. He has a background in discourse analysis, receiving DEK and Santander Universities funding to apply linguistic approaches to support enterprise and local regeneration, and is interested in community engagement through narrative and storytelling practices. 

Meeting ID: 356 824 903 757  
Passcode: uG9MTV