Seven science fictional affordances for technology assessment
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14512/tatup.7279Keywords:
science fiction, applied imagination, futures, narratives, collaborative imaginationAbstract
This research article details an approach to using science fiction narratives in technology assessment (TA) developed by the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University. We characterize our approach through seven affordances that describe how infusing science fiction into technology assessment can generate aesthetically rich considerations of the societal impacts of technological change. We illustrate these affordances with examples from projects undertaken between 2017 and 2025. Taken together, the affordances comprise a sensibility for how these science fiction narratives relate to social forces, to the notion of many possible futures, to diverse perspectives and cultural frames, and to complex systems and emergent phenomena. Our approach to TA is a process of applied imagination, blending informed speculation with careful analysis and collaborative deliberation to encourage robust, nuanced conversations about technological change and its consequences.References
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