ABSTRACT
Owing to their dual-use characteristics and innovative applications, emerging technologies such as unmanned aircrafts (drones) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have gained importance within various domains. The extensive commercialisation of drones has made them accessible to a wide range of users and applications. However, their uptake poses a series of concerns within the society about security, safety and privacy issues. The rapid development in recent years of AI equally raises important questions about its societal impact. Regarding both technological domains, the European Commission has taken a leadership role in elaborating policy frameworks, notably by shaping the EU’s regulatory as well as research and development priorities in line with a principled technological innovation model. Informed by insights from field theory and science and technology studies, the chapter examines how discourses, interests, perceptions and practices circulate and are enacted by relevant actors to shape these new EU policies. It argues that the Commission’s approach towards drone and AI sectors, in stimulating intensive and strategic consultations with and between key stakeholders, is engendering a ‘smart governance’. This has further consolidated a normative stand, positioning the EU as a legislative and ethical reference in a crucial moment where the socio-material practices and meanings surrounding these emerging technologies are not yet settled.
