IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2020 - 27

and give us purpose [82]. In the
digital age, the way we create and
share stories is rapidly changing.
Collective narratives capable of
global impact, which historical-
ly have taken decades and even
centuries to form, now emerge in
just a few months. For example, in
less than a year, #MeToo emerged
and transformed accountability
for sexual harassment. In a mat-
ter of months, #FridaysforFuture
expanded from one person to a
global movement. The power to
change narratives at scale today is
unparalleled in human history. But
how to create authentic narratives
that can scale deep societal trans-
formations is still an open question.
Research suggests that inaccurate
information - "fake news," which
often triggers strong reactions of
surprise, disgust, or fear - travels
six times faster and can reach up to
100 times more people than accu-
rate information [83]. Thus, one of
the biggest challenges to achieving
sustainability in the digital age is
the increasing difficulty in distin-
guishing fact from fiction.
Given the potential for narratives
to shift mindsets, and the unprece-
dented speed with which new narra-
tives can be developed and spread
in the digital age, collective storytell-
ing is potentially a powerful lever for
systems change. But pushing this
lever effectively will require research
to better understand critical issues
such as the sources, spread, and
uptake of fake news, and more broad-
ly why some concepts and narra-
tives become embedded in societal
discourse and influence behaviors,
while others do not.

thy and shifting behavior [85], they
are increasingly being explored in a
range of sectors from education to
public health [86], [87]. When cou-
pled with AI and mass collaboration,
AR and VR (referred here collective-
ly as "augmented engagement"),
offer new ways to engage the pub-
lic on the risks and solutions to
climate change. Much research
and experimentation are needed
to better understand the poten-
tial role of augmented engage-
ment for tackling climate change.
However, early research [88] sug-
gests that immersive augmented
engagement strategies can help to
1) build understanding of complex
issues such as climate change [86];
2) engage emotional response to
simulated changes through visual,
auditory, and haptic stimuli [85]; and
3) elicit action [87].
Augmented engagement can also
be weaponized through manipu-
-
lative tools such as "deepfakes,"
which are a form of disinformation
that use machine learning algo-
rithms to create audio and video of
real people saying and doing things
they never actually said or did. These
are rapidly becoming indistinguish-
able from reality [89] and much
more wide--
ly accessible. It is now
possible to make a fake video of a
person speaking in just a few min-
utes from just a few images of the
person's face [90].
While augmented engagement
could be an influential lever for driv-
ing societal transformations towards
a climate-safe and equitable world,
more research and innovation are
still needed. For example, we need
to better understand how augment-
ed engagement strategies compare
to analogue strategies in shifting
human mindsets and norms, how
mixed reality tools and intelligent
systems could be used to co-cre-
ate meta-narratives across popula-
tions and geographies, and how to

Augmented Engagement
Virtual reality and augmented reality
have been characterized as the ulti-
mate "empathy machine" [84]. While
many question the true impact VR
and AR can have on building empa-
JUNE 2020

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IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

decipher and hinder the spread of
false information.

Research Questions
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■■

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■■

W h a t a r e t he c o n ne c t i o n s
between changes in individual
and collective mindsets, and
how do these translate to collec-
tive action? How have these links
shifted in the digital age? Do
they provide an opportunity to
steer and scale inclusive collec-
tive action on climate change?
How effective and efficient is
digital nudging for influencing
behavior and mindsets at scale?
What are the implications for
sustainability outcomes? Can
nudging be legally and ethically
mandated at a global scale? If
so, how would the mandated
nudges be determined?
Why do some concepts and nar-
ratives become embedded in
societal discourse while others
do not? How do they shape soci-
etal change? How has the emer-
gence and reach of new concepts
and narratives changed in the
digital age across the wide range
of social and cultural contexts?
How has the digital age chang--
ed the power of social move-
ments to shift individual beliefs
and social norms, and to shape
policies?
How can we minimize and miti-
gate the risks of using digital tech-
nologies and platforms to exploit
cognitive biases and amplify
specific worldviews? Can these
digital levers be used ethically to
foster a new shared narrative
centered around net-zero carbon
emissions and global equity?
Can augmented experience
change human mindsets and
norms at scale?

Innovation Needs
■■

Build a network of targeted en--
gagement strategies that -leverage

27
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