# Design Concept: Scaffolding Geopolitical Reflection Among Tech Workers

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.28904 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.28904/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 9 of its 70 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 31 Jul 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [International AI Safety Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.17805/) (2025)
- [Seeing Like a Toolkit: How Toolkits Envision the Work of AI Ethics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.08792/) (2022)
- [How Do AI Companies "Fine-Tune" Policy? Examining Regulatory Capture in AI Governance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.13042/) (2024)
- [AI Ethics: An Empirical Study on the Views of Practitioners and Lawmakers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.01493/) (2022)
- [The Philosophic Turn for AI Agents: Replacing centralized digital rhetoric with decentralized truth-seeking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.18601/) (2025)
- [Unlikely Organizers: The Rise of Labor Activism Among Professionals in the U.S. Technology Industry](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.15790/) (2023)
- [Using Case Studies to Teach Responsible AI to Industry Practitioners](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.14686/) (2024)
- [Silicon Sovereigns: Artificial Intelligence, International Law, and the Tech-Industrial Complex](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.05506/) (2025)
- [AI Workers, Geopolitics, and Algorithmic Collective Action](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.17331/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper presents a speculative Human-Computer Interaction design proposal for encouraging geopolitical reflexivity amongst tech workers at geopolitically relevant technology companies. Recent scholarship in International Relations and Science and Technology Studies increasingly recognizes technology firms and their workers as geopolitical actors whose decisions shape international dynamics. However, existing Responsible Innovation and Responsible AI approaches rarely engage with the geopolitical narratives and imaginaries that underpin contemporary AI development. Building upon RI scholarship on reflexivity, reflective HCI, and creative HCI work on computational narratives, this paper proposes an AI-enabled interactive narrative system in which users engage with a speculative scenario centred on technology, power, and geopolitics. Through narrative interaction, archetype assignment, and socially scaffolded workshop reflection, the system aims to encourage target users to critically examine their assumptions, values, and positionality within broader sociotechnical systems. We argue that speculative narrative systems may offer a productive avenue for introducing geopolitical reflexivity into responsible technology initiatives without relying on prescriptive or moralising approaches.