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(Online) Spelling the (Digital) Spell: Talking About Magic in the Digital Revolution

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Abstract

The lexicon of religion has been widely used in the context of the social and cultural transformations associated with the ‘digital revolution’, whether in metaphoric (digital as religion) or in realistic terms (digital and religion or digitalised religions). The study of digital magic/magic in digital times, the other side of the coin of the Sacred 2.0, is still in its infancy. Yet, references to magic (in a loose and broad sense of the term) are made frequently in reflections about the rapid development of the digitalisation of society and culture, and they deserve more in-depth study. This paper tackles the issue of magic in and of new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) devices. After a broad outline of the presence of magic in the digital ecosystem (websites, apps and other devices offering ‘supernatural’ services), this paper will focus on the lexical surface and semantic references to ‘magical thinking’, explore the underlying reasons for such references (apologetically or critically addressed) and unveil the regimes of existence for magic (‘real’, ‘fictional’, ‘analogical’). Finally, the paper questions the role of language in the construction of a ‘digital magic’ and the transformations of the semantic category of magic as seen through the prism of a cultural revolution, that of the digitalisation of societies.

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Notes

  1. https://www.ibm.com/blogs/think/2019/03/ai-is-not-magic/

  2. Original quotation: « toute recette de cuisine est un algorithme qui indique quoi faire, dans quel genre de plat, dans quel ordre et avec quelles proportions […] et les formules magiques des sorciers sont un autre exemple bien connu d’algorithmes du bon vieux temps» c’est pourquoi, selon lui, « les algorithmes [de l’AI] fonctionnent alors comme autant de formules magiques que nos ordinateurs appliquent avec la précision requise»

  3. Original quotation: […] Si nous contemplons l’avenir de l’intelligence artificielle, la déclaration prémonitoire [D’(arthur Clarke] ainsi que cette notion de magie qui l’accompagne, semble particulièrement adaptée pour décrire les progrès de l’IA, ainsi que ses promesses. Pour l’intelligence artificielle, qui constitua la substance de la science-fiction, ce n’est plus une promesse: c’est ce qui se passe en ce moment.

  4. Original quotation: « chez Microsoft©, nous restons des indécrottables optimistes de la technologie. En fin de compte, nous croyons que les humains et les machines travailleront ensemble pour résoudre les plus grands défis de la société, pour créer des expériences magiques et pour changer le monde»

  5. See https://theomagica.com/

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  1. Laboratory in History: LARHRA (UMR 5190), Department of Anthropology, University of Lyon 2, Lyon, France

    Lionel Obadia

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  1. Lionel Obadia
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Obadia, L. (Online) Spelling the (Digital) Spell: Talking About Magic in the Digital Revolution. SOPHIA 61, 23–40 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-021-00898-6

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