Recognition, in a philosophical sense, refers to the familiar notion of depending on the affirmation of others for one’s social identity in coexistence. While respect for people’s rights, esteem for accomplishments, and love for emotional needs are seen as exemplary forms of such affirmations, actions of disregard are seen as threats to that end. Recognition theory traces its roots to the work of German idealist Georg W. F. Hegel and was revived in the 1990s by leading philosophers like Charles Taylor, Axel Honneth, and Nancy Fraser. The theory’s strength lies in taking up ordinary feelings of outrage and using them to encourage explorations of concepts by which to identify the harms that occasion this outrage. Examples of struggles for recognition include indigenous peoples’ fight for ownership over native land, women’s fight for esteem of household work as valuable labor, the fight for the right to marry someone of the same sex, or labor movement strikes pressuring employers to negotiate new terms of payment and gain social respect. 

The aim of this panel is to discuss how AI and other emerging technologies give rise to new forms of recognition struggles or mediate pre-existing struggles for recognition, and to reflect on the applicability of existing recognition theories to this new age of AI. Essential to this panel debate is Honneth’s argument that movement protest and related social conflicts can be traced back to collective experiences of injustice generated by violated expectations of affirmation—i.e., denials of recognition—equipping agents with motivation to resist these threats and to act jointly against a perceived unjust state. Important questions include: How does a movement's uprising shift when platforms strive to boost engagement and enhance social network interaction using smart algorithms that increasingly tailor content to suit user preferences? Also, given that movements require communal spaces where individuals share experiences of injustice and form collective agency, how do virtual spaces change the way protesters justify actions, reflect on problems, and identify political adversaries? The panelists will reflect on the ways in which recognition theory needs to be revisited and revised to remain relevant to the philosophy and ethics of technology, present case studies of struggles of recognition mediated by technology and discuss struggles of recognition within the tech industry. Bringing together AI ethicists, social and political philosophers, critical theorists, philosophers of technology, as well as media scholars, the panel aims to uncover and discuss untapped normative and conceptual resources from recognition-struggle theory to shed new light on social and political struggles occurring within the context of emerging technologies such as digital media and AI.

The following six short presentations (approximately 10 minutes each) will be concluded by a longer discussion among the panelists, with the possibility for questions from the audience. The panel discussion will be moderated by Rosalie Waelen, who shares the panelists’ interest in the intersection of recognition theory and the ethics and philosophy of technology.