Jester, Natalie ORCID: 0000-0002-7995-3028 (2024) Encountering Virtual Veterans: AI chatbots, martial ontologies, and memories of war. Critical Military Studies. doi:10.1080/23337486.2024.2417622 (In Press)
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Abstract
With new technologies presenting ever more ways to encounter war, this article asks about one in particular: representations of veterans powered by artificial intelligence. Specifically, I focus on the Virtual Veterans chatbot – named Charlie – produced by Anzac Square, the state war memorial of Queensland, Australia. Shared on the social media platform X, this feature has garnered significant public attention. I argue that AI representations of this nature delimit the boundaries of war by discussing certain topics and not others. They possess a martial ontology that locates certain subjects and issues outside of “war” and others within it. Further, they produce an epistemology of war that presents a state-sanctioned history as “first hand,” lending it significant authority and engendering vicarious militarism. In so doing, these chatbots reproduce existing ideas of nation, gender, racial identity and more.
Item Type: | Article |
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Article Type: | Article |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | Artificial intelligence; Veterans; Museums; Identity; Ontology |
Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HM Sociology J Political Science > JZ International relations U Military Science > U Military Science (General) |
Divisions: | Schools and Research Institutes > School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences |
Depositing User: | Natalie Jester |
Date Deposited: | 30 Oct 2024 11:39 |
Last Modified: | 30 Oct 2024 11:45 |
URI: | https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/14439 |
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