The reification of AI – and an overview of this excellent issue

This brief editorial essay was originally planned to be about multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity, but AI made me change the topicsort of!You can already see what is happening here -AI *made me* change my plans!How powerful is that?This kind of imagery of an all-powerful technology changing lives has been rampant.But what is really happening is that technology has been reifiedit has been given attributes of capability and decision, agency and freewill.However, such reification is highly problematic.We are being swamped with claims for AIin print media, AV media, social media : : : .It is a rare day when we do not see a headline.AI is taking our jobs!! AI will make good businesses great!AIthe silver bullet for improving productivity.AI is increasing the surveillance of workers to a dangerous degree.Perhaps like many of you, I was becoming uncomfortable with all of these claims.As a grubby empiricist, I wanted material evidence.I wanted to know why all these emphatic claims are made with force and certainty, and it was important to understand this for several reasons.Perhaps the most important reason for this essay has been that AI has been sold as a boon -and moreso as a boom, a dominating and unstoppable force.(Of course, booms are not always built on substance (tulipsor dot.com anyone?But that is another story).We are all being bombarded with claims about the potential of AI to revolutionise work, production, and creativity.The rhetoric is so forceful that it is taking on the mantle of reality.AI will do all those things listed above because everyone says so.Notoo many sweeping assertions.I needed to know more about AI.I started my search with a string of academic articles, and then The Conversation (which publishes articles by experts in terms accessible to the non-experts).These all proved helpful and gave me insights into the development and ownership of AI, but I needed more.So, of course, like all not-so-good modern researchers, I asked AI!! My trusty computer has an AI generator programme, so I asked -What is AI going to do for workers?What are the benefits and challenges?And that AI generator programme responded "AI is not simply a threat or a benefitit's a transformative force ....".