Andrew Alexander || Technique and the Sociotechnological Phenomenon of Artificial Intelligence: An Ellulian Perspective on AI

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence is a burgeoning field, though a perspective noticeably missing from the AI dialectic is from that of sociologist Jacques Ellul and the concept of “technique.” Technique does not merely refer to technology, but the recursive methods necessitating the continuous achievement of greater levels of efficiency for any given task. The facets of technique are applied to the field of AI in order to determine the legitimacy of technique against the sociotechnological in artificial intelligence. The findings conclude that the concept of technique is loosely applicable to AI, both in its own evolution of development and in application. While Ellul offers an important vantage from which to view AI technologies, AI is a sociotechnological phenomenon primarily controlled and driven through social constructs rather than an autonomous determinism. This study provides a different vantage from which AI may be analyzed, allowing it to be seen as part of a larger ecology rather than from AI the singular component of social structure. This provides the basis for a more holistic approach of sociotechnology and ontology in the study of artificial intelligence.

Citation: Alexander, Andrew. 2020. "Technique and the Sociotechnological Phenomenon of Artificial Intelligence: An Ellulian Perspective on AI."The International Journal of Technology, Knowledge, and Society16 (4): 23-36. doi:10.18848/1832-3669/CGP/v16i04/23-36.

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