ComAI P1: “Pioneer Communities: Imagining ComAI and its Possible Futures”

The first subproject of the ComAI research group, titled “Pioneer Communities: Imaginations of Communicative AI and Their Possible Futures,” analyzes how pioneer communities shape the emergence and spread of communicative artificial intelligence (ComAI) based on historical conditions in Silicon Valley and current developments at OpenAI (GPT-4). The aim is to understand how social and material factors shape today’s AI landscape.

Pioneer communities are defined as groups that create “social horizons” for future AI through imagination and experimental practices. The project examines both historical technical movements and current actors and their influence on the social dissemination of communicative AI.

Initial findings show that ideas about AI are strongly rooted in the imaginative landscape of Silicon Valley. The opportunities and risks of AI are fueling a race in which the central question is often lost: what kind of society do we want to live in? At the same time, the topic of AI is stimulating political engagement and debates around the world about shaping the future of the public sphere.

Principal investigator Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp emphasizes that only reflection on possible future scenarios can influence how a society is shaped by AI. The research team expands on this approach: Carolin Müller highlights that believing in the consequences of AI is a concern for everyone and that dialogue with members of pioneer communities is crucial to understand how this arises. Phillip Engelhardt points to the significance of AI as a public infrastructure and shows that its development is decided at the interface between companies and tech movements. Selim Başoğlu adds that pioneer communities not only develop visions of the future, but also help construct the temporality of AI — a key factor in understanding its social communication.

Publications:

• Hepp, A. (2025). Approaching digital futures. Communication Theory. DOI

• Hepp, A. (2025). Figurationen digitaler Zukünfte. Berliner Journal für Soziologie, 35(1), 71-99. DOI

• The team is also planning a special issue on the imaginative landscape of AI. The aim is to draw attention to social perceptions, political debates, and social movements that arise around AI.

More information on the project page.