Relational & culture-sensitive AI innovation
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In this article, I argue that responsibly developing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions necessitates a deep understanding of the cultural landscapes involved. Especially considering AI's universalistic tendencies, varying, possibly conflicting interests, values, and epistemes require special consideration. I advocate for a cultural sensitivity that aligns with a relational ethics perspective to address power asymmetries, empower marginalized groups, and recognize epistemic privileges. By laying out how technology pervades cultures, I build a case for a culturally informed approach to ethics that empowers individuals to autonomously transform (or conserve) cultures. I then discuss a structural integration of cultural studies into the training and practices of technology and AI engineers and officers. By discussing relational ethics as intimately tied to a culturally sensitive approach to technology development, I argue that a collaboration between ethics and cultural studies can yield insights and methodologies that respect diverse cultural contexts and challenge the primacy of disruptive innovation.
Author: Christian Herzog
Institution: University of Lübeck
Language: English
Subfield: Safety Research
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,560
OpenAlex ID: W4413289651