The Image of Artificial Intelligence in Social Media: A Cross-National Study

Nowadays, scientific and technological development are viewed as important factors of national welfare and international influence. Among major technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a driving force for many industries and social spheres is growing at an unprecedented rate and deeply integrated into our daily life. Under such circumstances, opportunities, challenges, and possible threats of AI long-term trajectory are widely discussed not only in the professional community but also in public dialogue. One of the tasks of scientific attention is the identification of public attitudes toward AI because it might play a significant role in AI further development and dissemination. This thesis aims to extend the existing commonly used methodology in this field by employing the content analysis of visual images representing AI in social media. For the study, the AI-related images ( n=6300 ) were collected from five social networks which are dominant in Russian (Vkontakte), Chinese (Sina Weibo & Weixin/WeChat), and English speaking nations (Instagram & Facebook). To sum up, the average image of AI in different countries turns out differences between the cultures but generally the “average” image of AI as a non-humanoid robot (appearance) and robot-human interaction with a neutral-positive relation. Chinese users most frequently post commercial ads of AI and human-robot handshaking pictures; English nations have equally performed AI in all types of purposes and activities, In the Russian case, people are interested in public communication, learning, and cooperation. As these results are preliminarily reported, further investigation is still needed. Behind the figures, there are many disputable issues of public attitudes and emerging technology to be extended.