Niklas Egberts//The Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Artificial General Intelligence
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Research Associate
NameNiklas Egberts
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TUD Dresden University of Technology Schaufler Kolleg@TU Dresden
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Doctoral project
Working title: The Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Artificial General Intelligence
Subject area: Cultural Studies
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Orit Halpern, Dr. Andrea Augsten
Abstract
This dissertation research project critically examines the sociotechnical imaginaries of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Drawing on Sheila Jasanoff’s conceptualization of sociotechnical imaginaries as "collectively held and performed visions of desirable futures" (2015), the project investigates how AGI is imagined as achieving human-like, superhuman, or radically non-human forms of intelligence.
Through a series of case studies, the research traces the historical lineages and contemporary manifestations of three key imaginaries: Common Sense, Superintelligence, and Planetary Intelligence. By analyzing these discourses, the project aims to elucidate the ways in which AGI functions as a site of speculative projection, shaping not only technological development but also broader sociopolitical and epistemological frameworks. Ultimately, this study seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of how technological imaginaries mediate the co-production of knowledge, power, and future-making in the context of artificial intelligence.
Curriculum Vitae
| since 05/2024 | Fellow of the Schaufler Kolleg@TU Dresden |
| 2018 | M.A. Cultural Theory and History, Humboldt University of Berlin |
| 2014 | B.A. Communication and Cultural Management, Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen |
Academic Presentations
2025 - Technological Futurity andCommon Sense: On a Key Metaphorof Artificial (General) Intelligence. Presentation at Critical Theory of the Computationalm, hosted by Weizenbaum Institut
2019 - Techno-ecological Storytelling in Ian Cheng's Emissaries. Presentation at The GreatEnvironemntal Switch: Technology, Ecology and Thinking, hosted at University of Stockholm.
2015 - Towards a Systems-Theoretical Approach to Quantified Self. Presentation at 15th StudentSociology Congress, hosted at University of Tübingen.
Teaching
2017 - 2018: Soft Technologies. Teaching a research-oriented seminar in Cultural Theory at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.