Artificial Intelligence: Sociological Approaches

Wednesday, 9 July 2025: 11:00-12:45
Location: FSE025 (Faculty of Education Sciences (FSE))
RC26 Sociotechnics, Sociological Practice (host committee)

Language: English

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a tool for coping with several criticalities of the contemporary world: increase of work productivity, improvement of global health and food security, social and environmental sustainability etc.
On the other side, Ai is related to several risks, that it is important to keep into consideration. AI might cause loss of jobs, especially among the so called white-collars: as a matter of fact, lawyers, journalists, authors etc. perform functions that now several and largely spread software can apparently perform better.
Furthermore, AI entails several risks for privacy, due to massive data collection activities, the risk of privacy violation and lack of transparency. This might also undermine the necessary trust in the expert systems, such as health or legal systems.
Thirdly, social and cultural hurdles can delay or even prevent the provision of effective AI services: staff’s lack of adequate preparation, perpetuation of inequalities (sex, gender, ethnicity etc.), lack of transparency and trust in the algorithms writing.
This panel includes contributions that highlight, the role of sociology in undertesting AI-related social phenomena and show how crucial this role is: namely, being AI governance essential to ensure a full deployment of the good sides and mitigate the criticalities, contributions are welcome, that focus on AI policy making.
Session Organizer:
Massimiliano RUZZEDDU, University Niccolò Cusano, Italy
Oral Presentations
Transformation of Higher Education in the Era of Artificial Intelligence in the Republics of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan: Research Questions and Hypotheses for Comparative Sociological Research
Valentin STARIKOV, TANDEM, St. Petersburg State University, Russia; Natalia TREGUBOVA, St. Petersburg State University, Russian Federation; Adlet KARIYEV, Abai KazNPU, Kazakhstan; Alexander STEPANOV, TANDEM, St. Petersburg State University, Russia; Pavel LISITSYN, TANDEM, St. Petersburg State University, Russia
Artificial Intelligence in Politicians' Public Statements
Marilena MACALUSO, University of Palermo, Italy; Antonio LETO, Independent, Italy
Digital Marginalization in the Context of Sociotechnical Convergence of Humans and AI
Vitaly ZOTOV, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), Russian Federation; Aleksandr GUBANOV, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), Russian Federation; Kirill GAVRILCHENKO, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), Russian Federation