“Game changer”: the AI advocacy discourse of 2023 in the US (original) (raw)
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Abstract
In 2023, artificial intelligence was announced as a “game changer”—marking a rapid revolution in thinking technologies. A global debate began to emerge. By conducting a discourse analysis of 2023 US congressional testimonies and AI manifestos, we aim to map the emergence of debates over the start-up of a global governance controversy. Qualitative topical identification and semantic network analysis are deployed to identify the primary stakeholders and their contesting arguments. The resulting polylog exhibits sharp divisions among multiple, distinct pro-tech and pro-rights groups. Pro-tech stakeholders emphasize innovation and economic benefits, while pro-rights groups prioritize human rights and safety. Our linguistic and semantic network analyses provide micro-level insights into the polylogue entanglements of ethics and governance. The analysis of US AI advocacy discourse furnishes a baseline of contestation from which the ongoing development of the complex arguments of AI policies can be identified and evaluated.
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Data availability
The datasets generated by the survey research during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the Dataverse repository, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/SFBXVD
Change history
23 November 2024
The original online version of this article was revised to update the missing funding information "This study was supported by Journalism and Marxism Research Center, Renmin University of China (Project Number: 19MXG06).
27 November 2024
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-024-02139-z
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Funding
This study was supported by Journalism and Marxism Research Center, Renmin University of China (Project Number: 19MXG06).
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Authors and Affiliations
- School of Journalism and Communication, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Shuya Pan, Xingzhi Zhao, Yifan Wang, Lezi Xie & Jinxi Zhang - Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
G. Thomas Goodnight
Authors
- Shuya Pan
- G. Thomas Goodnight
- Xingzhi Zhao
- Yifan Wang
- Lezi Xie
- Jinxi Zhang
Corresponding author
Correspondence toShuya Pan.
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The original online version of this article was revised to update the missing funding information "This study was supported by Journalism and Marxism Research Center, Renmin University of China (Project Number: 19MXG06).
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Pan, S., Goodnight, G.T., Zhao, X. et al. “Game changer”: the AI advocacy discourse of 2023 in the US.AI & Soc 40, 2807–2819 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-024-02027-6
- Received: 21 May 2024
- Accepted: 15 July 2024
- Published: 14 August 2024
- Version of record: 14 August 2024
- Issue date: April 2025
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-024-02027-6