1.0 Learning Outcomes and Introduction

Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) has changed how people interact. ChatGPT is one of the first AI programs to become available. It is an advanced language model. Advanced language models are trained using massive datasets. They are trained to “recognize, summarize, translate, predict and generate texts” (Lee, 2023). ChatGPT has passed the bar (law) and advanced placement (AP) exams (Varanasi, 2023). The growth of AI represents a new area of study for sociology.

Sociologists study the relationships between social categories (like gender and class) and other social phenomena like technology. They also study family, crime, education, and more. To do this, they use a sociological eye. A sociological eye questions commonsense explanations. Sociologists use data to understand how social structures and social interaction influences people. Researchers can use a sociological eye to explore how AI reflects and shapes social interaction. In schools, for instance, teachers might set rules for students’ use of the program.

AI exists within a social structure that reinforces inequality. For example, AI programs make predictions based on their training datasets. People make these datasets using existing data. AI programs are trained on everything from books, to resumes, to websites. Therefore, AI learns a culture’s biases. This means that AI is a source of social reproduction. Social reproduction is how social groups maintain social structures and stratification over time. Amazon experienced this problem in their AI program they created to streamline hiring. Their training data was resumes of successful hires. The AI learned that Amazon hired more men than women because of the names on these resumes. As a result, the AI learned to prefer applicants who were men (Dastin, 2018). The company scrapped the program.

When new technologies become available, people must learn how to use them. Part of learning how to use them includes agreeing on the norms (or expectations) for their use. This learning is part of socialization. AI is causing educators to rethink how they teach. For example, some teachers may prohibit the use of AI. When students use AI to draft their papers, they miss out on developing writing and thinking skills. Other teachers encourage the use of AI so that students learn how to use it. Students, therefore, will encounter a range of rules for using AI in their courses. Learning the rules on using AI is a new way that teachers socialize students.

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Using Artificial Intelligence May Harm Writing and Thinking Skills

Many people are concerned that AI could replace jobs. If this occurs, then AI could increase stratification (or inequality). For example, employers could use AI instead of hiring writers for some work. If they do this, then writers could become unemployed. Members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike in 2023 over the use of AI in Hollywood scriptwriting (Poniewozik, 2023). The writers won the right to use and that studios could not replace them with AI (Kinder, 2024). 

The use of AI could contribute to social change. For example, AI has eased the spread of propaganda. Freedom House tracks internet freedom in 71 countries. In 21 countries holding elections in 2024, they found political actors used AI to spread propaganda (Funk, Vesteinsson, & Baker, 2023). These politicians used AI bots and AI-generated images, video, and audio. This propaganda spread doubt about the integrity of the election (Funk, Vesteinsson, & Baker, 2023). As AI improves, more bad actors can use it to spread propaganda. AI relates to social structure, socialization, stratification, social change, and social reproduction. A sociological eye can help people understand how AI impacts social life.