# The Stories We Govern By: AI, Risk, and the Power of Imaginaries

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.11729 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.11729/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 4 of its 53 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 15 Aug 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Pitfalls of Evidence-Based AI Policy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.09618/) (2025)
- [Understanding and Avoiding AI Failures: A Practical Guide](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.12582/) (2021)
- [AI Governance to Avoid Extinction: The Strategic Landscape and Actionable Research Questions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.04592/) (2025)
- [What Comes After Harm? Mapping Reparative Actions in AI through Justice Frameworks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.05687/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper examines how competing sociotechnical imaginaries of artificial intelligence (AI) risk shape governance decisions and regulatory constraints. Drawing on concepts from science and technology studies, we analyse three dominant narrative groups: existential risk proponents, who emphasise catastrophic AGI scenarios; accelerationists, who portray AI as a transformative force to be unleashed; and critical AI scholars, who foreground present-day harms rooted in systemic inequality. Through an analysis of representative manifesto-style texts, we explore how these imaginaries differ across four dimensions: normative visions of the future, diagnoses of the present social order, views on science and technology, and perceived human agency in managing AI risks. Our findings reveal how these narratives embed distinct assumptions about risk and have the potential to progress into policy-making processes by narrowing the space for alternative governance approaches. We argue against speculative dogmatism and for moving beyond deterministic imaginaries toward regulatory strategies that are grounded in pragmatism.