Visions of Hungarian Artificial Intelligence Specialists About the Future of Work and Their Roles

Abstract

In an international context where social effects and ethics related to artificial intelligence (AI) are receiving more attention, there is a dearth of research about how AI specialists perceive the future of work and their role in bringing about the respective future. Does the fact that ethics and social issues are receiving more publicity impact AI specialists’ views? The current study advances knowledge about this issue by describing a deep qualitative investigation of the visions of AI developers and researchers in Hungary, a country on the semi-periphery concerning the development of these technologies. In recent years, social and ethical challenges linked to AI have been covered in the Hungarian media as well, although they are less of a hot topic than in some Western countries. The twenty AI specialist interviewees’ accounts were characterised by their perception of the current period as one of hype, expectations of a slow and limited amount of technological change, techno-optimism, as well as a distancing of responsibility. Notably, the change in the media climate does not appear to have affected their thinking: social consequences and ethical issues associated with technology were neglected in their accounts. Potential drivers of their views and the potential effects of the country context are discussed, as well as the consequences of the experts’ expectations and implications for AI research and development.