AI and Future of Futures
Abstract submission deadline extended – 30 September 2023.
Call for Papers
This special issue looks at AI and Futures in light of transformative developments in the fields broadly described as artificial intelligence (e.g., machine learning, natural language processing, Large Language Models, or expert systems). How will AI help reimagine the practice of Futures? How would it shape the ways in which communities imagine and build Futures? How might Futures evolve in an AI dominated environment? How might this emergence of knowledge shape the body of knowledge?
The editors invite contributors in the areas of foresight, forecasting, long-range planning, visioning and other related areas, from any of the main research frameworks of Futures Studies – empirical, interpretative, critical and action learning. Articles, essays and reports are expected to show an in-depth understanding of the field’s dimensions, content, research perspectives and methods. All submissions must demonstrate some level of application of Futures methodologies, concepts or framework. To stimulate the systematic use and growth of futures literature, one of the criteria for publishing in the journal is indicating how the article relates to others in the futures literature. That is, your paper should refer to material published in this journal and in the other journals in the futures field (including, the Journal of Futures Studies, Futures, Foresight, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, The European Journal of Futures Research, World Future Review, On the Horizon) as well as futures material contained in books, monographs, other field related journals, including visual resources and web resources. Editors strongly advise authors to cite at least two or more works in the futures field.
We invite submissions from scholars and practitioners on a range of topics related to AI and human-centric futures. Some suggested broad topics, but not limited, to the following:
Topic 1: AI and the Foresight Craft
Advancements in AI offer significant potential for supporting foresight activities, such as identifying weak signals, visualizing scenarios and even surfacing the different layers of CLA. What might be some of the roles AI can contribute to in foresight activities? What are the possible modes of interplay between AI and Humans in foresight engagement? What new foresight process might be made possible or practical?
Topic 2: Human Agency, Futures and AI
AI has the potential to be integrated with a wide variety of activities in the human domains, including Futures Studies. The increasing use of AI in Futures Studies raises questions about the role of human beings in the process, as well as, the transformative potential of AI in Futures Studies. How might the use of AI support or marginalize human experiences, values and judgements? Should widespread adoption of AI super-charges the acceleration of change, how might this threaten to shrink or help expand futures and policy horizons? And beyond a user of such tools, what are the ways foresight can help illuminate potentially harmful bias in AI systems?
Topic 3: AI and Outside the Box
As we are stepping into the unknown unknowns of the post-human era, we must also ask how ubiquitous near-AI could transform the Futures Studies field. The rise of new tools for processing and displaying information has historically yielded profound shifts in wider human endeavors such as governance, art, or music. These shifts were unexpected and outside the framing of the day. What might be some equivalently surprising elements of more distant futures in the world beyond the AI rupture? How might these possibilities be captured and conveyed?
We welcome essays from a range of disciplines, including foresight, AI, computer science, engineering, social sciences, and the humanities. Interdisciplinary papers that span multiple topics are especially wanted, and we are looking for contributions from diverse global sources. Ultimately, our goal is to create a space for sharing insights contributing to the body of digital futures knowledge.
Important Dates
- Extended Abstract submission deadline: August 30, 2023; extended to 30 Sept, 2023.
- Notification of acceptance for submission to JFS: November 30, 2023
- Final Full-paper submission to JFS: February 29, 2024
Submission Guidelines:
Authors are required to submit an extended abstract of their paper. The extended abstract should be a concise summary of your research that includes the background, objectives, methodology, results, and conclusions. This document should not exceed 1 page and should be submitted along with your full paper.
Submit your work through JFS online complying with the guidelines provided by the Journal of Futures Studies. Papers must not exceed 8,000 words for journal articles, and 4,000 words for essays, including references, tables, and figures. All papers should include an abstract of no more than 150 words. Learn more about the JFS publication process here.
For inquiries on this Call for Papers, contact the guest editors:
- Dr. Scott McLeod , Senior Advisor, Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI), Singapore, Samskara, Cofounder ,samsara808@gmail.com
- Daniel Riveong, APF, Foresight Advisor to Mycelium Gastronomy, Futures & Foresight Learning Lead at NGFP, Co-Founder of the Participatory Futures Global Swarm Co-Op, Plural Futures Project, daniel.riveong@gmail.com
- Nok Boonmavichit, Ph. D. Candidate, School of Public Policy, Chiang Mai University boonmavichit@hotmail.com
References
Here are some recent publications informing the development of this Call for Papers.
Beyond Identities: Human Becomings in Weirding Worlds by Jim Dator
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-11732-9
Dator, J. A. (2022). Beyond Identities: Human Becomings in Weirding Worlds. Springer.
AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future by Kai-Fu Lee, Chen Qiufan
Lee, K. F., & Qiufan, C. (2021). AI 2041: Ten visions for our future. Currency.
On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big?by Emily M. Bender, Timnit Gebru, Angelina McMillan-Major, Shmargaret Shmitchell
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3442188.3445922?utm_source=morning_brew
Bender, E. M., Gebru, T., McMillan-Major, A., & Shmitchell, S. (2021, March). On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big?. In Proceedings of the 2021 ACM conference on fairness, accountability, and transparency (pp. 610-623).
Alignment of Language Agents by Zachary Kenton, Tom Everitt, Laura Weidinger, Iason Gabriel, Vladimir Mikulik, Geoffrey Irving
https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.14659
Kenton, Z., Everitt, T., Weidinger, L., Gabriel, I., Mikulik, V., & Irving, G. (2021). Alignment of language agents. arXiv preprint arXiv:2103.14659.
Questioning the legitimacy of data by Danah Boyd
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346953386_Questioning_the_legitimacy_of_data
Boyd, D. (2020). Questioning the legitimacy of data. Information Services & Use, 40(3), 259-272.
Are post-human technologies dehumanizing? Human enhancement and artificial intelligence in contemporary societies by Ismael Al-Amoudi
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14767430.2022.2134618
Al-Amoudi, I. (2022). Are post-human technologies dehumanizing? Human enhancement and artificial intelligence in contemporary societies. Journal of Critical Realism, 21(5), 516-538.
Paradoxes of artificial intelligence in consumer markets: Ethical challenges and opportunities by Shuili Du, Chunyan Xie
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0148296320305312
Du, S., & Xie, C. (2021). Paradoxes of artificial intelligence in consumer markets: Ethical challenges and opportunities. Journal of Business Research, 129, 961-974.
