Dr. Ash Watson studies how stories ranging from classic Sci-Fi to modern tales invoking moral imperatives, dystopian futures and economic logic shape our views of AI. 

Ash and Kimberly discuss the influence of old Sci-Fi on modern tech; why we can’t escape the stories we’re told; how technology shapes society; acting in ways a machine will understand; why the language we use matters; value transference from humans to AI systems; the promise of AI’s promise; grounding AI discourse in material realities; moral imperatives and capitalizing on crises; economic investment as social logic; AI’s claims to innovation; who innovation is really for; and positive developments in co-design and participatory research.  

Dr. Ash Watson is a Scientia Fellow and Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Social Research in Health at UNSW Sydney. She is also an Affiliate of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (CADMS). 

Related Resources:

• Ash Watson (Website): https://awtsn.com/
• The promise of artificial intelligence in health: Portrayals of emerging healthcare technologies (Article): https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13840
• An imperative to innovate? Crisis in the sociotechnical imaginary (Article): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2024.102229

A transcript of this episode is here.