Living With Artificial Intelligence in Pakistan: A Sociological Review of Ethical and Social Implications

Abstract

AI or Artificial Intelligence is changing quickly the way economies and political societies operate worldwide creating new jobs and development opportunities as well as huge sociological problems. The purpose of this review article is to look critically at how AI will change the Pakistani work environment from various viewpoints of labor, surveillance via technology, privacy issues, and income inequality. The analysis of previous research; debates on governmental policy; and the latest in technological advancements, will be examined using the viewpoints of Marx, Weber, and Foucault. Marx’s viewpoint of technological capitalism will be reviewed with respect to the loss of job opportunities and economic lack in platform technology, while Weber’s conceptual view of efficiency will assist in understanding “algorithmic” rules and bureaucratic manner of bureaucratic control in the digital world. Foucault’s theory of surveillance will provide a conceptual framework for understanding the growth of digital surveillance, biological identifiers (biometric), and the regulation of data collection-driven regulations.

      The paper suggests that while AI could be very useful and help drive forward the development of new technologies, applying AI through unequal distribution may actually reinforce societal divisions based on social class, increase job insecurities and create new forms of technological exclusion among those who do not have access to the technology available to them. This problem is particularly acute in developing countries such as Pakistan. The paper will show how emerging digital platforms, surveillance-based solutions and inadequate regulatory frameworks are creating new patterns of power and inequality. The final conclusion drawn from this paper is that there is a need for ethical and socially responsible governance of AI by creating enhanced protection of personal data, establishing digital rights frameworks, implementing educational programs to promote AI literacy and creating inclusive policy frameworks. The paper also places AI in the context of larger sociological conversations concerning power relations, inequities in social structure, and governing a society. This paper is intended to inform new conversations taking place within the social realm concerning the implications of an increasingly digital society in developing countries such as Pakistan.