Visions of AI: art and deliberative discourses

In science and technology studies, “responsible research and innovation” (RRI) has become a central concept in discourses on innovation. Scholars applying this concept have called for reflexive, anticipatory and deliberative discourses on technoscientific choices and science objectives. The contributions of artists in these debates have not yet been considered in depth. In our art-based research project on artificial intelligence (AI), we suggest that art can contribute to discourses on reflexive and responsible innovation by bringing an additional perspective to deliberative processes about technology. As experts in imagining (alternative) futures, artists critically reflect and affectively engage with technology, offering different views and experiences to the public. This article presents an art-based research project on AI conducted in Germany. The article includes a conversation between the project’s team members who reflect on the research process, the artistic/epistemic practices, the AI visions revealed and created and how art-based research contributes to deliberative processes about AI.