This presentation will explore Maurice’s current research into the usage of metaphors in Japanese AI policy-making as part of the upcoming Japanese-German conference Artificial Intelligence and the Human – Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Science and Fiction organized by the Humboldt Institute for Internet & Society and hosted by the Japanese-German Center in Berlin.

Imaginations about the human and technologies are far from universal, they are culturally specific. This is why a cross-cultural comparison is crucial for better understanding the relationship between AI and the human and how they are mutually constructed by uncovering those aspects that are regarded as natural, normal or given. Focusing on concepts, representations and narratives from different cultures, the conference aims to address two axes of comparison that help us make sense of the diverse realities of artificial intelligence and the ideas of what is human: Science and fiction, East Asia and the West.