Chapter 38: Digital methods for technology assessment
With the rise of digital media and the seemingly unlimited possibilities offered by Digital Methods (DM), TA is being confronted with the challenge of keeping up to speed, but also with the opportunity to make use of this data and improve the empirical ground with which to provide guidance and inform public debates. DM can support the detection of weak signals and emerging issues, contribute to exploring opportunities and risks of technologies and elicit public preferences.
In addition, DM can be used to convene and facilitate deliberation across geographical spaces and languages. Yet, using DM appropriately necessitates an appropriate infrastructure, as well as a deep understanding of their potential and limits. Future areas of research and application especially concern large language models and will open new possibilities for TA.
