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https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1142304
INTRO: Common global narratives about political polarization are skewed because of an over-reliance on literature around the US, leaving governments unprepared on how to tackle the problem at home.
In new research, led by King’s College London and published in Nature Communications, experts across the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia and the US point to how common narratives about polarisation are overgeneralised and often based on evidence from the US alone.
Academics warn that this risks applying US solutions to non-US problems, with local policymakers having unsuitable evidence to tackle the growing polarisation challenges of social media and AI, with dangerous ramifications for democracy.
In the context of AI and social media, these wrong assumptions can lead policymakers to make decisions that fail to address the true drivers of polarisation. Dr Max Falkenberg, AI+ Senior Fellow at King’s College London and lead author of the paper, said: “Social science has an America problem. The first Trump Presidency and the role of social media in that election caused an explosion in polarisation studies in the US that the rest of the world is yet to catch up with. But norms established in the US such as political antagonism being based on a one-dimensional left-right axis, don’t necessarily fit with what’s happening in other parts of the world.
“Ensuring a global literature on political polarisation must be a fundamental goal of the academic community. There are legitimate concerns around AI being used as a tool to further polarise our societies, but understanding the polarizing role of AI will only be possible if the evidence is not solely US-focused. If we fail to understand the nature of political disagreement, how can we hope to be better?” (MORE - details)
INTRO: Common global narratives about political polarization are skewed because of an over-reliance on literature around the US, leaving governments unprepared on how to tackle the problem at home.
In new research, led by King’s College London and published in Nature Communications, experts across the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia and the US point to how common narratives about polarisation are overgeneralised and often based on evidence from the US alone.
Academics warn that this risks applying US solutions to non-US problems, with local policymakers having unsuitable evidence to tackle the growing polarisation challenges of social media and AI, with dangerous ramifications for democracy.
In the context of AI and social media, these wrong assumptions can lead policymakers to make decisions that fail to address the true drivers of polarisation. Dr Max Falkenberg, AI+ Senior Fellow at King’s College London and lead author of the paper, said: “Social science has an America problem. The first Trump Presidency and the role of social media in that election caused an explosion in polarisation studies in the US that the rest of the world is yet to catch up with. But norms established in the US such as political antagonism being based on a one-dimensional left-right axis, don’t necessarily fit with what’s happening in other parts of the world.
“Ensuring a global literature on political polarisation must be a fundamental goal of the academic community. There are legitimate concerns around AI being used as a tool to further polarise our societies, but understanding the polarizing role of AI will only be possible if the evidence is not solely US-focused. If we fail to understand the nature of political disagreement, how can we hope to be better?” (MORE - details)