Encountering Virtual Veterans: AI chatbots, martial ontologies, and memories of war

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
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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