Ressources numériques en sciences humaines et sociales OpenEdition Nos plateformes OpenEdition Books OpenEdition Journals Hypothèses Calenda Bibliothèques OpenEdition Freemium Suivez-nous

Appel à abstract – 4S – Does Generative AI Flip the Script? A Look at Power and Use in Everyday Sociotechnical Practice

Nouvel un appel à abstracts pour le panel “Does Generative AI Flip the Script? A Look at Power and Use in Everyday Sociotechnical Practice”, que j’organise avec Donato Ricci à la conférence 4S (Toronto, 7–10 octobre 2026).

Le panel propose de revisiter la notion classique de script en STS à partir des usages de l’IA générative, en s’intéressant notamment à la manière dont ces systèmes reconfigurent (ou non) les relations entre conception, prescription et pratique.

Nous invitons à soumettre des contributions empiriques portant sur les usages professionnels, domestiques ou ordinaires de ces systèmes, ainsi que sur des situations de contournement, de faible adoption ou de refus.

La date limite de soumission est le 30 avril 2026.

Vous trouverez ci-dessous la description complète du panel.

Lien vers la page des panels ouverts (panel #26) : https://www.4sonline.org/accepted_open_panels_toronto.php

Lien direct pour soumettre un abstract : https://www.xcdsystem.com/4sonline/abstract/abstract.cfmGabriel Alcaras

Panel #26 − Does Generative AI Flip the Script? A Look at Power and Use in Everyday Sociotechnical Practice

This panel asks whether generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) calls for a rethinking of a foundational STS concept: the script (Akrich, 1992). Drawing on a cinematographic analogy, classic analyses of scripts showed how designers inscribe values and frameworks of action into technical artifacts, which users then perform and reinterpret in practice, much as actors work from a scenario

GenAI calls this tradition into question. Academics from different fields have suggested that it differs in kind from scripted artifacts: computer scientists call them General Purpose Technology (Eloundou et al., 2024), STS scholars emphasize their “task-agnostic” character and the absence of a clearly delimited program of action (Schulz-Schaeffer, 2025), while Labour Process Theorists describe them as a “universal machine,” capable of scriptless absorption of human capacities (Steinhoff, 2024).

The study of actual uses and practices is decisive for understanding what becomes of scripts in the era of GenAI. Do scripts still meaningfully structure action? Are they operating through new forms of encoding and prescription? Does GenAI shift the burden of scripting onto users, who must repeatedly specify tasks? Or does its apparent unscripted nature open space for creative or subversive uses? More generally, what does de-scription mean for GenAI? This panel contributes to current STS debates and the 4S Technopower theme by asking whether generative AI reconfigures how power is enacted in everyday sociotechnical practice.

We invite empirical contributions that document how these questions unfold across professional, domestic, and everyday uses of GenAI. Papers may focus on concrete enactments of these systems, as well as on situations of limited use, circumvention, or refusal. We particularly welcome studies centered on minority groups or practices. Contributions may also engage with methodological challenges, proposing inventive or participatory approaches that privilege the perspectives of users and workers over dominant accounts aligned with tech firms and corporate hype.

Convenors: Gabriel Alcaras & Donato Ricci (médialab, Sciences Po)

The deadline for submitting proposals is  April 30, 2026.

Open panel link: https://www.4sonline.org/accepted_open_panels_toronto.php , open panel #26

Submission link: https://www.xcdsystem.com/4sonline/abstract/abstract.cfm 


OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
manonberriche (16 mars 2026). Appel à abstract – 4S – Does Generative AI Flip the Script? A Look at Power and Use in Everyday Sociotechnical Practice. Sociologie de la Consommation et du Numérique. Consulté le 19 mai 2026 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/15vtx


Laisser un commentaire

Votre adresse e-mail ne sera pas publiée. Les champs obligatoires sont indiqués avec *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.