WITSA Webinar's “AI as a Normal Technology” took place on June 5th, 2025.
In this Webinar, Sayash Kapoor of Princeton University's Center for Information Technology Policy, one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI, articulated his vision of AI in contrast to both utopian and dystopian visions of the future of AI; that AI as a tool that we can and should remain in control of, and that this goal does not require drastic policy interventions or technical breakthroughs. The Webinar’s backdrop was Prof. Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor’s April 15th groundbreaking paper entitled "AI as a Normal Technology". The paper is available at: https://knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-as-normal-technology?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Mr. Kapoor emphasized that the normal technology frame is about the relationship between technology and society. He rejected technological determinism, especially the notion of AI itself as an agent in determining its future. AI development is instead guided by lessons from past technological revolutions, such as the slow and uncertain nature of technology adoption and diffusion. He also emphasizes continuity between the past and the future trajectory of AI in terms of societal impact and the role of institutions in shaping this trajectory.
What will happen once AI is far more advanced than it is today? Mr. Kapoor asked us to think about the dawn of the first Industrial Revolution: It would have been useful to try to think about what an industrial world would look like and how to prepare for it, but it would have been futile to try to predict electricity or computers. Our exercise here is similar. Sayash Kapoor discussed how we will be able to better anticipate and prepare for whatever comes next.
If you have any questions about the above Webinar or have any suggestions for future Webinar topics and presenters, we would love to hear from you!
To watch the webinar, kindly reach out to us at azlina@witsa.org or ahalvorsen@witsa.org and we will send you the link!
