thesis on development

Developing a Thesis Statement

Many papers you write require developing a thesis statement. In this section you’ll learn what a thesis statement is and how to write one.

Keep in mind that not all papers require thesis statements . If in doubt, please consult your instructor for assistance.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement . . .

Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic.
Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper.
Is focused and specific enough to be “proven” within the boundaries of your paper.
Is generally located near the end of the introduction ; sometimes, in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or in an entire paragraph.
Identifies the relationships between the pieces of evidence that you are using to support your argument.

Not all papers require thesis statements! Ask your instructor if you’re in doubt whether you need one.

Identify a topic

Your topic is the subject about which you will write. Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic; or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper.

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Inform yourself about your topic, focus on one aspect of your topic, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts, generate a topic from an assignment.

Below are some possible topics based on sample assignments.

Sample assignment 1

Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II.

Identified topic

Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis

This topic avoids generalities such as “Spain” and “World War II,” addressing instead on Franco’s role (a specific aspect of “Spain”) and the diplomatic relations between the Allies and Axis (a specific aspect of World War II).

Sample assignment 2

Analyze one of Homer’s epic similes in the Iliad.

The relationship between the portrayal of warfare and the epic simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64.

This topic focuses on a single simile and relates it to a single aspect of the Iliad ( warfare being a major theme in that work).

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic, or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper. You’ll want to read your assignment carefully, looking for key terms that you can use to focus your topic.

Sample assignment: Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II Key terms: analyze, Spain’s neutrality, World War II

After you’ve identified the key words in your topic, the next step is to read about them in several sources, or generate as much information as possible through an analysis of your topic. Obviously, the more material or knowledge you have, the more possibilities will be available for a strong argument. For the sample assignment above, you’ll want to look at books and articles on World War II in general, and Spain’s neutrality in particular.

As you consider your options, you must decide to focus on one aspect of your topic. This means that you cannot include everything you’ve learned about your topic, nor should you go off in several directions. If you end up covering too many different aspects of a topic, your paper will sprawl and be unconvincing in its argument, and it most likely will not fulfull the assignment requirements.

For the sample assignment above, both Spain’s neutrality and World War II are topics far too broad to explore in a paper. You may instead decide to focus on Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis , which narrows down what aspects of Spain’s neutrality and World War II you want to discuss, as well as establishes a specific link between those two aspects.

Before you go too far, however, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts. Try to avoid topics that already have too much written about them (i.e., “eating disorders and body image among adolescent women”) or that simply are not important (i.e. “why I like ice cream”). These topics may lead to a thesis that is either dry fact or a weird claim that cannot be supported. A good thesis falls somewhere between the two extremes. To arrive at this point, ask yourself what is new, interesting, contestable, or controversial about your topic.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times . Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Derive a main point from topic

Once you have a topic, you will have to decide what the main point of your paper will be. This point, the “controlling idea,” becomes the core of your argument (thesis statement) and it is the unifying idea to which you will relate all your sub-theses. You can then turn this “controlling idea” into a purpose statement about what you intend to do in your paper.

Look for patterns in your evidence

Compose a purpose statement.

Consult the examples below for suggestions on how to look for patterns in your evidence and construct a purpose statement.

Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis
Franco turned to the Allies when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from the Axis

Possible conclusion:

Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: Franco’s desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power.

Purpose statement

This paper will analyze Franco’s diplomacy during World War II to see how it contributed to Spain’s neutrality.

The simile compares Simoisius to a tree, which is a peaceful, natural image.
The tree in the simile is chopped down to make wheels for a chariot, which is an object used in warfare.

At first, the simile seems to take the reader away from the world of warfare, but we end up back in that world by the end.

This paper will analyze the way the simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64 moves in and out of the world of warfare.

Derive purpose statement from topic

To find out what your “controlling idea” is, you have to examine and evaluate your evidence . As you consider your evidence, you may notice patterns emerging, data repeated in more than one source, or facts that favor one view more than another. These patterns or data may then lead you to some conclusions about your topic and suggest that you can successfully argue for one idea better than another.

For instance, you might find out that Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis, but when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from them, he turned to the Allies. As you read more about Franco’s decisions, you may conclude that Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: his desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power. Based on this conclusion, you can then write a trial thesis statement to help you decide what material belongs in your paper.

Sometimes you won’t be able to find a focus or identify your “spin” or specific argument immediately. Like some writers, you might begin with a purpose statement just to get yourself going. A purpose statement is one or more sentences that announce your topic and indicate the structure of the paper but do not state the conclusions you have drawn . Thus, you might begin with something like this:

This paper will look at modern language to see if it reflects male dominance or female oppression.
I plan to analyze anger and derision in offensive language to see if they represent a challenge of society’s authority.

At some point, you can turn a purpose statement into a thesis statement. As you think and write about your topic, you can restrict, clarify, and refine your argument, crafting your thesis statement to reflect your thinking.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Compose a draft thesis statement

If you are writing a paper that will have an argumentative thesis and are having trouble getting started, the techniques in the table below may help you develop a temporary or “working” thesis statement.

Begin with a purpose statement that you will later turn into a thesis statement.

Assignment: Discuss the history of the Reform Party and explain its influence on the 1990 presidential and Congressional election.

Purpose Statement: This paper briefly sketches the history of the grassroots, conservative, Perot-led Reform Party and analyzes how it influenced the economic and social ideologies of the two mainstream parties.

Question-to-Assertion

If your assignment asks a specific question(s), turn the question(s) into an assertion and give reasons why it is true or reasons for your opinion.

Assignment : What do Aylmer and Rappaccini have to be proud of? Why aren’t they satisfied with these things? How does pride, as demonstrated in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” lead to unexpected problems?

Beginning thesis statement: Alymer and Rappaccinni are proud of their great knowledge; however, they are also very greedy and are driven to use their knowledge to alter some aspect of nature as a test of their ability. Evil results when they try to “play God.”

Write a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay you plan to write.

Main idea: The reason some toys succeed in the market is that they appeal to the consumers’ sense of the ridiculous and their basic desire to laugh at themselves.

Make a list of the ideas that you want to include; consider the ideas and try to group them.

nature = peaceful
war matériel = violent (competes with 1?)
need for time and space to mourn the dead
war is inescapable (competes with 3?)

Use a formula to arrive at a working thesis statement (you will revise this later).

although most readers of _______ have argued that _______, closer examination shows that _______.
_______ uses _______ and _____ to prove that ________.
phenomenon x is a result of the combination of __________, __________, and _________.

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Beginning statements obtained through the methods illustrated above can serve as a framework for planning or drafting your paper, but remember they’re not yet the specific, argumentative thesis you want for the final version of your paper. In fact, in its first stages, a thesis statement usually is ill-formed or rough and serves only as a planning tool.

As you write, you may discover evidence that does not fit your temporary or “working” thesis. Or you may reach deeper insights about your topic as you do more research, and you will find that your thesis statement has to be more complicated to match the evidence that you want to use.

You must be willing to reject or omit some evidence in order to keep your paper cohesive and your reader focused. Or you may have to revise your thesis to match the evidence and insights that you want to discuss. Read your draft carefully, noting the conclusions you have drawn and the major ideas which support or prove those conclusions. These will be the elements of your final thesis statement.

Sometimes you will not be able to identify these elements in your early drafts, but as you consider how your argument is developing and how your evidence supports your main idea, ask yourself, “ What is the main point that I want to prove/discuss? ” and “ How will I convince the reader that this is true? ” When you can answer these questions, then you can begin to refine the thesis statement.

Refine and polish the thesis statement

To get to your final thesis, you’ll need to refine your draft thesis so that it’s specific and arguable.

Ask if your draft thesis addresses the assignment
Question each part of your draft thesis
Clarify vague phrases and assertions
Investigate alternatives to your draft thesis

Consult the example below for suggestions on how to refine your draft thesis statement.

Sample Assignment

Choose an activity and define it as a symbol of American culture. Your essay should cause the reader to think critically about the society which produces and enjoys that activity.

Ask The phenomenon of drive-in facilities is an interesting symbol of american culture, and these facilities demonstrate significant characteristics of our society.This statement does not fulfill the assignment because it does not require the reader to think critically about society.

Drive-ins are an interesting symbol of American culture because they represent Americans’ significant creativity and business ingenuity.

Among the types of drive-in facilities familiar during the twentieth century, drive-in movie theaters best represent American creativity, not merely because they were the forerunner of later drive-ins and drive-throughs, but because of their impact on our culture: they changed our relationship to the automobile, changed the way people experienced movies, and changed movie-going into a family activity.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast-food establishments, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize America’s economic ingenuity, they also have affected our personal standards.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast- food restaurants, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize (1) Americans’ business ingenuity, they also have contributed (2) to an increasing homogenization of our culture, (3) a willingness to depersonalize relationships with others, and (4) a tendency to sacrifice quality for convenience.

This statement is now specific and fulfills all parts of the assignment. This version, like any good thesis, is not self-evident; its points, 1-4, will have to be proven with evidence in the body of the paper. The numbers in this statement indicate the order in which the points will be presented. Depending on the length of the paper, there could be one paragraph for each numbered item or there could be blocks of paragraph for even pages for each one.

Complete the final thesis statement

The bottom line.

As you move through the process of crafting a thesis, you’ll need to remember four things:

Context matters! Think about your course materials and lectures. Try to relate your thesis to the ideas your instructor is discussing.
As you go through the process described in this section, always keep your assignment in mind . You will be more successful when your thesis (and paper) responds to the assignment than if it argues a semi-related idea.
Your thesis statement should be precise, focused, and contestable ; it should predict the sub-theses or blocks of information that you will use to prove your argument.
Make sure that you keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Change your thesis as your paper evolves, because you do not want your thesis to promise more than your paper actually delivers.

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion. It keeps the reader on track–well able to understand and appreciate your argument.

Writing Process and Structure

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Generating Ideas for

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Generating Ideas for Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

While Sandel argues that pursuing perfection through genetic engineering would decrease our sense of humility, he claims that the sense of solidarity we would lose is also important.

This thesis summarizes several points in Sandel’s argument, but it does not make a claim about how we should understand his argument. A reader who read Sandel’s argument would not also need to read an essay based on this descriptive thesis.

Broad thesis (arguable, but difficult to support with evidence)

Michael Sandel’s arguments about genetic engineering do not take into consideration all the relevant issues.

This is an arguable claim because it would be possible to argue against it by saying that Michael Sandel’s arguments do take all of the relevant issues into consideration. But the claim is too broad. Because the thesis does not specify which “issues” it is focused on—or why it matters if they are considered—readers won’t know what the rest of the essay will argue, and the writer won’t know what to focus on. If there is a particular issue that Sandel does not address, then a more specific version of the thesis would include that issue—hand an explanation of why it is important.

Arguable thesis with analytical claim

While Sandel argues persuasively that our instinct to “remake” (54) ourselves into something ever more perfect is a problem, his belief that we can always draw a line between what is medically necessary and what makes us simply “better than well” (51) is less convincing.

This is an arguable analytical claim. To argue for this claim, the essay writer will need to show how evidence from the article itself points to this interpretation. It’s also a reasonable scope for a thesis because it can be supported with evidence available in the text and is neither too broad nor too narrow.

Arguable thesis with normative claim

Given Sandel’s argument against genetic enhancement, we should not allow parents to decide on using Human Growth Hormone for their children.

This thesis tells us what we should do about a particular issue discussed in Sandel’s article, but it does not tell us how we should understand Sandel’s argument.

Questions to ask about your thesis

Is the thesis truly arguable? Does it speak to a genuine dilemma in the source, or would most readers automatically agree with it?
Is the thesis too obvious? Again, would most or all readers agree with it without needing to see your argument?
Is the thesis complex enough to require a whole essay's worth of argument?
Is the thesis supportable with evidence from the text rather than with generalizations or outside research?
Would anyone want to read a paper in which this thesis was developed? That is, can you explain what this paper is adding to our understanding of a problem, question, or topic?
picture_as_pdf Thesis

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Knowledge Base
How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 15, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . It usually comes near the end of your introduction .

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

Start with a question
Write your initial answer
Develop your answer
Refine your thesis statement

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What is a thesis statement, placement of the thesis statement, step 1: start with a question, step 2: write your initial answer, step 3: develop your answer, step 4: refine your thesis statement, types of thesis statements, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis statements.

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why.

The best thesis statements are:

Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.
Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.
Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest of your paper.

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The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction .

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers.

You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process . As soon as you’ve decided on your essay topic , you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.

You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to find out or decide about your topic?

For example, you might ask:

After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process .

Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed.

In your essay about the internet and education, the thesis states your position and sketches out the key arguments you’ll use to support it.

The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information.

In your essay about braille, the thesis statement summarizes the key historical development that you’ll explain.

The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

A strong thesis statement should tell the reader:

Why you hold this position
What they’ll learn from your essay
The key points of your argument or narrative

The final thesis statement doesn’t just state your position, but summarizes your overall argument or the entire topic you’re going to explain. To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic.

These examples are more specific and show that you’ll explore your topic in depth.

Your thesis statement should match the goals of your essay, which vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing:

In an argumentative essay , your thesis statement should take a strong position. Your aim in the essay is to convince your reader of this thesis based on evidence and logical reasoning.
In an expository essay , you’ll aim to explain the facts of a topic or process. Your thesis statement doesn’t have to include a strong opinion in this case, but it should clearly state the central point you want to make, and mention the key elements you’ll explain.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

It gives your writing direction and focus.
It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

Ask a question about your topic .
Write your initial answer.
Develop your answer by including reasons.
Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

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PhD thesis Ensuring Sustainable Development within a Changing Climate

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UTAFITI Journal

Samwel J Kabote

Abstract Compared to other regions in the world, agricultural performance in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has for many decades been deteriorating. Theoretically, it has been argued that rapid population growth could be responsible for not only deteriorating agricultural performance but also to environmental degradation. On the other hand, the Asian Green Revolution of 1960s has been reported as a success story in terms of transforming agriculture and improving food security in the context of increasing population in countries such as China and India. This article reviews the Malthusian theoretical ideas and their relevance to agricultural transformation in the African context and sub-Saharan Africa in particular. It further discusses empirical evidence emanating from sub-Saharan Africa in relation to agricultural productivity, population growth and the integrity of the environment. Based on ensuing discussions, the agricultural sector in SSA needs to be transformed, and theoretical arguments that negate the Malthusian stance are really relevant in this sub-continent. It is further stressed that replicating the Asian Green Revolution will not work perfectly in SSA because of variations in context based on policy, institutional, and structural arrangements. Therefore, transforming agriculture in this sub-continent is not an easy and straight forward task; rather, its success will depend on the interplay between policy interventions, integrating the agricultural sector with other sectors of the economy, active participation of different stakeholders, as well as government mediations. Keywords: agriculture transformation, Green Revolution, population growth, environmental degradation

Essays on Development Economics

Weiner, Scott

This dissertation consists of three essays, each covering very distinct topics under the broad umbrella of Development Economics, each set in a different region of the developing world (Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia). The one element that loosely ties them together is that they each seek to add, in a small way, to our understanding of factors that contribute to, and in some cases may entrap people in, poverty: factors such as (lack of) geographic mobility, hunger, and disease. In the first chapter, I use the natural experiment of military conscription in Argentina, which randomly assigned not only military service, but also the location of service, to study the effect of this temporary displacement on long-run migration rates. I then use a rich source of administrative earnings and employment data to investigate the labor-market implications of conscription and, in particular, displacement. I find that conscription on the whole caused a small increase in the likelihood of appearing in the formal labor force, and a small increase in earnings particularly for those who were assigned to serve in the Navy. Assignment to military service outside of one's province of origin increased the likelihood of living outside the province of origin by 2.5 percent, and while the net effects of this displacement on earnings and employment are imprecisely estimated, the evidence suggests that there are modest long-term benefits of conscription in Argentina that are not fully attributable to displacement. In the second chapter, I investigate the effects of Ramadan on calorie consumption and labor supply among Muslim households in rural Malawi. Across four rounds of household survey data, I find no evidence of a decrease in calorie consumption during Ramadan on average. I do, however, find evidence that working-age people reduce their weekly work by about three hours, or nearly 20 percent, on average. This finding on calories shows substantial variation across the different rounds of data. The evidence presented calls into question the hypothesis that consumption during Ramadan should fall more dramatically when the holiday overlaps with the harvest (when baseline consumption levels are relatively high compared to the rest of the year), compared to when Ramadan falls near the annual hunger season (when baseline consumption levels tend to be much lower). I discuss potential implications of this variation for our understanding of seasonal consumption patterns. The third and final chapter, which is authored jointly with Kaivan Munshi and Nancy Luke, discusses a randomized intervention conducted in rural South India aimed at improving rates of treatment completion for tuberculosis. Tuberculosis (TB), despite being a highly treatable disease, kills well over 1 million people every year, with 95 percent of cases and deaths appearing in developing countries. India bears the largest TB burden of any country, with more than 25 percent of the world's total yearly cases. A key factor for successful management of TB is ensuring that patients complete the full six-month (or more) treatment regimen: missing even a few doses of the prescribed medications increases the likelihood of relapse and development of a drug-resistant strain of TB, which is much more difficult and costly to treat effectively. We conduct an intervention allowing patients to select a community member to serve as a Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) provider to help ensure compliance with the full treatment regimen. Although patients assigned a Community DOT provider report significantly more frequent visits and higher rates of satisfaction compared to our control group, we do not find any significant improvement in treatment outcomes among those assigned this intervention. We explore several potential explanations for this finding and suggest potential avenues for future research.

Geographic Areas

India, South
Development economics
Poverty--Research
Food consumption--Research
Tuberculosis--Treatment

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Accounting for sustainable development in water services : a case of Lephalale Local Municipality in the Limpopo province, South Africa Makgatho, Selina Magugudi ( 2022-09 ) Local government, in terms of its constitutional obligation is liable for service provision. But in the provision of service there is a need for accountability. This will assist municipalities to track improvement derived ...
Achieving equity and gender equality in Uganda’s tertiary education and development Odaga, Geoffrey ( 2019-12 ) Grounded in feminist epistemology, the study focused on the concepts of location, social position, gender and Affirmative Action to assess the social phenomenon of inequality in the distribution of public university ...
Adoption of information and communication technology for the development of the incubated rural farming cooperatives in Limpopo province, South Africa Seroka, Michael Phaane ( 2022-11 ) Information and communication technology (ICT) is ubiquitous and has penetrated various economies and farming included. The advent of ICT has expanded the farming sector evidenced by a whole range of value chains that can ...
Advancing the rights of rural women with disabilities in Zimbabwe: challenges and opportunities for the twenty first century Dziva, Cowen ( 2018-02 ) Disability studies largely ignored or neglected the experiences of rural women with disabilities (WWD) in the Global South. This qualitative study documents the challenges faced by Zimbabwean rural WWD in the enjoyment of ...
Africa is not a country: perceptions of poverty by Christians in Germany Dieckmann, Daniel ( 2021-06 ) This research examines the perception that Christians in Germany have of poverty in Africa and the extent to which this thinking corresponds to a holistic understanding of poverty. The study is examined in the context ...
An afrocentric critique of the discourse of good governance and its limitations as a means of addressing development challenges in Nigeria Adejumo-Ayibiowu, Oluwakemi Damola ( 2018-09-11 ) The current study is an African-centred critique of the idea of ‘good governance’; which since the 1990s, has been a prescription of the international development institutions for all development challenges facing developing ...
Analysing the sustainable livelihoods of domestic female migrants in Dunoon, Cape Town in the Western Cape of South Africa Tokoyo, Bertha ( 2023-01-11 ) There is proof that women continue to migrate from other countries to seek better ways of survival and to increase their sustainable livelihood. These women’s migration is linked to their provisional efforts and the ...
Analysis of a model designed for land restitution in protected areas in South Africa De Koning, Maria Adriana Imelda ( 2010-10 ) This thesis investigates the design of a model, methods and guidelines that may assist government agencies in South Africa to find a balance between the objective of biodiversity conservation and increased local economic ...
An analysis of climate change resilience of vulnerable rural communities in Malawi Mkungula, Yusuf Malsellino ( 2021-05 ) Climate change is increasingly becoming a global challenge and countries are feeling its impacts. Malawi is heavily affected by the impacts of climate change because her economy depends on agriculture which is extremely ...
An analysis of Dubai's socio-economic development strategies and performance between 1998-2008 Thompson, Paul Anthony ( 2014-03-17 ) This study explores the socio-economic development path of the former Trucial State of Dubai, now an economic powerhouse within the Federal State of the United Arab Emirates. This thesis emanated out of the researcher’s ...
Analysis of factors influencing provision of municipal services in the rural districts : the case study of Luwingu District Council of Zambia Longa, Simon ( 2018-06 ) Provision of municipal services to urban residents particularly those residing in small towns across developing countries, is facing challenges. A small town or rural district of Luwingu in Zambia, is no exception. This ...
Analysis of foreign aid effectiveness on economic development in Ethiopia Tagese Helore Lamore ( 2022-08 ) In this study the effectiveness of foreign aid on economic development and poverty alleviation in Ethiopia during the period of 2011 to 2020 was analysed. On the one hand, government reports have indicated that the country ...
Analysis of government agricultural food security pack programme: the case of Mpulungu District, Northern Province, Zambia Royd, Tembo ( 2021-06 ) This study investigated the effects, capacity, and challenges of the food security pack programme in Mpulungu district, Northern Province, Zambia. The primary sources of data were farm household surveys, focus group ...
Analysis of livelihoods and food security of poor urban households: the case of urban productive safety-net beneficiaries in Ethiopia Tegegn Gebeyaw Wassie ( 2022-07 ) Social protection, including social assistance or safety nets, is considered a proven means of reducing poverty, promoting livelihood, improving food security and nutrition status of the poorest households. The Government ...
An analysis of perceptions amongst farmers on the adoption of GM technology in Paarl, Western Cape - South Africa Owusu, Festus ( 2020 ) In early 2003, a persistent drought threatened about 15 million people in the Southern African region (SADC) with starvation as farmers in this region were not able to produce enough food. A similar threat was experienced ...
An analysis of public perception towards consuming genetically modified crops and the acceptance of modern agricultural biotechnology: a South African case study Makaure, Cleopas ( 2019-01 ) South Africa is one of the biggest producers of genetically modified crops in the world. However, recent studies in South Africa show a low public willingness to consume genetically modified crops and accept modern ...
An analysis of the actor-oriented approach as tool in international development cooperation Bosman, Willem ( 2009-08-25 ) No abstract available
An analysis of the benefits of the growth in tourism to the local communities in the Panorama region, Mpumalanga Province Monakhisi, Ngwako Philemon ( 2009-08-25 ) In recent decades tourism has asserted its importance as the biggest employer and foreign exchange earner in both the developing and developed countries. Consequently, there has been increasing attention to tourism ...
Analysis of the compatibility of customary land tenure with food security: a case of Binga District, Zimbabwe Dube, Mathew Unique ( 2021-11-30 ) The study focused on the analysis of the compatibility of customary land tenure with food security in Binga District, in the northwest of Zimbabwe. The practices in customary land tenure that lead to food insecurity ...
An analysis of the effects of parent emigration on the social security of children left behind: the case of Highfield, Harare in Zimbabwe Masaila, Fesiline ( 2022-02 ) This study examined the perspectives of caregivers on how parental emigration impacts the social security of children left behind in Highfield, Zimbabwe. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews with caregivers, as well as ...

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Writing a Paper: Thesis Statements

Basics of thesis statements.

The thesis statement is the brief articulation of your paper's central argument and purpose. You might hear it referred to as simply a "thesis." Every scholarly paper should have a thesis statement, and strong thesis statements are concise, specific, and arguable. Concise means the thesis is short: perhaps one or two sentences for a shorter paper. Specific means the thesis deals with a narrow and focused topic, appropriate to the paper's length. Arguable means that a scholar in your field could disagree (or perhaps already has!).

Strong thesis statements address specific intellectual questions, have clear positions, and use a structure that reflects the overall structure of the paper. Read on to learn more about constructing a strong thesis statement.

Being Specific

This thesis statement has no specific argument:

Needs Improvement: In this essay, I will examine two scholarly articles to find similarities and differences.

This statement is concise, but it is neither specific nor arguable—a reader might wonder, "Which scholarly articles? What is the topic of this paper? What field is the author writing in?" Additionally, the purpose of the paper—to "examine…to find similarities and differences" is not of a scholarly level. Identifying similarities and differences is a good first step, but strong academic argument goes further, analyzing what those similarities and differences might mean or imply.

Better: In this essay, I will argue that Bowler's (2003) autocratic management style, when coupled with Smith's (2007) theory of social cognition, can reduce the expenses associated with employee turnover.

The new revision here is still concise, as well as specific and arguable. We can see that it is specific because the writer is mentioning (a) concrete ideas and (b) exact authors. We can also gather the field (business) and the topic (management and employee turnover). The statement is arguable because the student goes beyond merely comparing; he or she draws conclusions from that comparison ("can reduce the expenses associated with employee turnover").

Making a Unique Argument

This thesis draft repeats the language of the writing prompt without making a unique argument:

Needs Improvement: The purpose of this essay is to monitor, assess, and evaluate an educational program for its strengths and weaknesses. Then, I will provide suggestions for improvement.

You can see here that the student has simply stated the paper's assignment, without articulating specifically how he or she will address it. The student can correct this error simply by phrasing the thesis statement as a specific answer to the assignment prompt.

Better: Through a series of student interviews, I found that Kennedy High School's antibullying program was ineffective. In order to address issues of conflict between students, I argue that Kennedy High School should embrace policies outlined by the California Department of Education (2010).

Words like "ineffective" and "argue" show here that the student has clearly thought through the assignment and analyzed the material; he or she is putting forth a specific and debatable position. The concrete information ("student interviews," "antibullying") further prepares the reader for the body of the paper and demonstrates how the student has addressed the assignment prompt without just restating that language.

Creating a Debate

This thesis statement includes only obvious fact or plot summary instead of argument:

Needs Improvement: Leadership is an important quality in nurse educators.

A good strategy to determine if your thesis statement is too broad (and therefore, not arguable) is to ask yourself, "Would a scholar in my field disagree with this point?" Here, we can see easily that no scholar is likely to argue that leadership is an unimportant quality in nurse educators. The student needs to come up with a more arguable claim, and probably a narrower one; remember that a short paper needs a more focused topic than a dissertation.

Better: Roderick's (2009) theory of participatory leadership is particularly appropriate to nurse educators working within the emergency medicine field, where students benefit most from collegial and kinesthetic learning.

Here, the student has identified a particular type of leadership ("participatory leadership"), narrowing the topic, and has made an arguable claim (this type of leadership is "appropriate" to a specific type of nurse educator). Conceivably, a scholar in the nursing field might disagree with this approach. The student's paper can now proceed, providing specific pieces of evidence to support the arguable central claim.

Choosing the Right Words

This thesis statement uses large or scholarly-sounding words that have no real substance:

Needs Improvement: Scholars should work to seize metacognitive outcomes by harnessing discipline-based networks to empower collaborative infrastructures.

There are many words in this sentence that may be buzzwords in the student's field or key terms taken from other texts, but together they do not communicate a clear, specific meaning. Sometimes students think scholarly writing means constructing complex sentences using special language, but actually it's usually a stronger choice to write clear, simple sentences. When in doubt, remember that your ideas should be complex, not your sentence structure.

Better: Ecologists should work to educate the U.S. public on conservation methods by making use of local and national green organizations to create a widespread communication plan.

Notice in the revision that the field is now clear (ecology), and the language has been made much more field-specific ("conservation methods," "green organizations"), so the reader is able to see concretely the ideas the student is communicating.

Leaving Room for Discussion

This thesis statement is not capable of development or advancement in the paper:

Needs Improvement: There are always alternatives to illegal drug use.

This sample thesis statement makes a claim, but it is not a claim that will sustain extended discussion. This claim is the type of claim that might be appropriate for the conclusion of a paper, but in the beginning of the paper, the student is left with nowhere to go. What further points can be made? If there are "always alternatives" to the problem the student is identifying, then why bother developing a paper around that claim? Ideally, a thesis statement should be complex enough to explore over the length of the entire paper.

Better: The most effective treatment plan for methamphetamine addiction may be a combination of pharmacological and cognitive therapy, as argued by Baker (2008), Smith (2009), and Xavier (2011).

In the revised thesis, you can see the student make a specific, debatable claim that has the potential to generate several pages' worth of discussion. When drafting a thesis statement, think about the questions your thesis statement will generate: What follow-up inquiries might a reader have? In the first example, there are almost no additional questions implied, but the revised example allows for a good deal more exploration.

Thesis Mad Libs

If you are having trouble getting started, try using the models below to generate a rough model of a thesis statement! These models are intended for drafting purposes only and should not appear in your final work.

In this essay, I argue ____, using ______ to assert _____.
While scholars have often argued ______, I argue______, because_______.
Through an analysis of ______, I argue ______, which is important because_______.

Words to Avoid and to Embrace

When drafting your thesis statement, avoid words like explore, investigate, learn, compile, summarize , and explain to describe the main purpose of your paper. These words imply a paper that summarizes or "reports," rather than synthesizing and analyzing.

Instead of the terms above, try words like argue, critique, question , and interrogate . These more analytical words may help you begin strongly, by articulating a specific, critical, scholarly position.

Read Kayla's blog post for tips on taking a stand in a well-crafted thesis statement.

Related Resources

Didn't find what you need? Email us at [email protected] .

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The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
makes a claim that others might dispute.
is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

Do I answer the question? Yes!
Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Home > Colleges & Schools > Soules College of Business > Human Resource Development > HRD_GRAD

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

CAMPUS-LEVEL TEACHER TURNOVER IN TEXAS PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS: AN EXAMINATION OF THE IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP FACTORS AND SCHOOL DEMOGRAPHICS USING HEIRARCHICAL LINEAR MODELING , Amy Welch Baskin

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALS’ COMPETENCIES AND CAREER SUCCESS IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY: A QUALITATIVE STUDY , Cheryl DePonte

EVALUATING HEALTHCARE STUDENT LEARNING PERFORMANCE DURING THE INITIAL YEAR OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A CASE STUDY , Maria D. Garcia-Villarreal

LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS, PRACTICES, AND SYTLES IN MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS IN THE U.S. TECHNOLOGY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS: A QUALITATIVE STUDY , SUSAN E. GLOVER

THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE IN THE TELEWORKING CONTEXT IN THE U.S. PUBLIC SECTOR: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL CASE STUDY , Elizabeth Nesuda

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Exploring the Roles of the Craft Trainer in the Construction Industry , Mary M. Chatham

PREPARE FOR THE WORST, HOPE FOR THE BEST: A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON WORKPLACE VIOLENCE IN THE HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY , John Haymore

WORKPLACE FUN FOR EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: A FUNCTION OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE? , Lacey Logan

TESTING THE PREDICTIVE VALIDITY OF A MANAGERIAL COACHING SCALE USING A CROSS-LAGGED PANEL DESIGN , Katherine Stone

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

EFFECT OF TRAINING OPPORTUNITY AND JOB SATISFACTION ON TURNOVER INTENTIONS AMONG GEN X AND GEN Y , Regin Justin

The Effects of Perceived Organizational Justice of Inclusive Talent Management Practices on Employee Work Effort , Thomas Kramer

MENTORING EARLY CAREER TEACHERS UNDER COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE STATE OF TEXAS: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL CASE STUDY , Sonya H. Niazy

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

EXAMINING MANAGERIAL COACHING DYADS AND THE DEVELOPMENTAL LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR MANAGERS SERVING AS COACHES AND THE REVERSE COACHING BEHAVIORS OF THEIR SUBORDINATE COACHEES , Beth Adele

Team-Based Effects on Individual Human Capital: A Proxy for Organizational Performance , Rob Carpenter

Testing the Modality Effect in an Online Training of Virtual Workers: An Experiment Inspired by Social Distancing , Janice Lambert Chretien

Examining the Mediating Effect of Job Crafting on the Relationship Between Managerial Coaching and Job Engagement in the Skilled Trades , Jennifer H. DuPlessis

PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING DURING RETIREMENT TRANSITION AND ADJUSTMENT FOR SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTORS: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL MULTI-CASE STUDY , Tresa Gamblin

The Impact of Work Alienation on the Relationship Between Person-Organization Fit and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Higher Education , Andrew R. Krouse

Antecedents to Strategic Project Success: A Qualitative Phenomenological Analysis of Project Leaders' Perceptions , Dave Silberman

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

EXAMINING THE UNITED KINGDOM’S SOFT LAW APPROACH FOR WOMEN ON BOARDS WITH REGARD TO GENDER DIVERSITY AND THE GENDER PAY GAP: A REGRESSION DISCONTINUITY DESIGN , Silvana Chambers

ORGANIZATIONAL COGNITION AS INTERVENED BY ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT AND ENGAGEMENT ON MEDICAL CODERS’ EXHIBITION OF ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIORS , David W. Conley

EXPLORING GRIEF AND MOURNING IN WORK TEAMS: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL MULTI-CASE STUDY , Ashley L. Kutach

EFFECTS OF THE DIMENSIONS OF QUALITY OF WORK LIFE ON TURNOVER INTENTION OF MILLENNIAL EMPLOYEES IN THE U.S. , Julie Lewis

EXAMINING THE DIRECT EFFECT OF CEO PERCEPTIONS OF COLLECTIVE ORGANIZATIONAL ENGAGEMENT ON PATIENT EXPERIENCE IN ACUTE-CARE HOSPITALS , Mary Lynn Lunn

SUCCESS AND FAILURE RATES, FACTORS, AND ALIGNMENT WITH CHANGE MODELS: A META-ETHNOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF PLANNED ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY LITERATURE , Diana McBurnett

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The obscure politics of artificial intelligence: a Marxian socio-technical critique of the AI alignment problem thesis

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Published: 08 April 2024

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Federico Cugurullo ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0625-8868 1

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There is a growing feeling that artificial intelligence (AI) is getting out of control. Many AI experts worldwide stress that great care must be taken on the so-called alignment problem , broadly understood as the challenge of developing AIs whose actions are in line with human values and goals. The story goes that ever more powerful AI systems are escaping human control and might soon operate in a manner that is no longer guided by human purposes. This is what we call the AI-out-of-control discourse which, in this paper, we critically examine and debunk. Drawing on complementary insights from political theory, socio-technical studies and Marxian political economy, we critique the supposed animistic and autonomous nature of AI, and the myth of the uncontrollability of AI. The problem is not that humanity has lost control over AI, but that only a minority of powerful stakeholders are controlling its creation and diffusion, through politically undemocratic processes of decision-making. In these terms, we reframe the alignment problem thesis with an emphasis on citizen engagement and public political participation. We shed light on the existing politics of AI and contemplate alternative political expressions whereby citizens steer AI development or stop it in the first place.

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1 Introduction: AI out of control?

Recently, there seems to be a growing feeling that the development of artificial intelligence (AI) is getting out of control. Such concern has escalated with the release of ChatGPT-4 and it can be observed by looking at three dimensions. First, the public. As of this writing, ChatGPT-4 has over 150 million users and many of them, according to recent studies, seem to believe that this AI has unprecedented human-like properties [ 1 ]. This is one of the most powerful AIs ever built, which has entered the mundane spaces of everyday life, with people now able to have conversations with a digital intelligence from the comfort of their homes [ 2 ]. Second, the computer scientists and engineers who are building AIs. Emblematic is the paper published by a Microsoft team in which the authors argue that GPT-4 exhibits remarkable capabilities that are strikingly close to human-level performance, thereby showing early signs of general intelligence [ 3 ]. They also warn us about the risks of this AI technology, stressing that ‘great care would have to be taken on alignment and safety’ [3 p.2]. Third, there are AI experts worldwide who are monitoring the development of AI and expressing concern over the rapid pace of its innovation. Here the most prominent example, which we use in this paper to critically discuss the seemingly out-of-control nature of AI development, is the Future of Life Institute’s (FLI) open letter published in March 2023.

The letter in question was written and then endorsed by prominent AI scientists and public intellectuals such as Max Tegmark, Stuart Russell and Yuval Noah Harari, asking all AI companies to pause the development of AI systems with a computational power akin or superior to that of GPT-4 for six months [ 4 ]. Moreover, the letter calls on governments from all around the world to impose a moratorium on AI development should AI companies like OpenAI and Google keep operating business as usual. Together with its compendium, a longer policy brief [ 5 ], the FLI letter offers very useful materials to understand the seemingly general feeling that the development of AI is getting out of control, why this is happening and, above all, what the biggest risks are according to what we refer to as the AI-out-of-control discourse .

The FLI letter notes that ‘recent months have seen AI labs locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one – not even their creators – can understand, predict or reliably control’ [4 p.1]. They describe a type of technological development that has gotten out of control in terms of both pace and outcomes. Among the key risks that the authors of the letter highlight are the creation of ‘non-human minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us’, and ‘the loss of control of our civilization’ [4 p.1]. Here the meaning is not simply that the development of AI technology is getting out of control, but that AI itself as a non-human mind might soon get out of control and operate in manners that go against human values, interests and goals. In relation to emerging AI systems akin to GPT-4, the letter’s compendium states that ‘the systems could themselves pursue goals, either human or self-assigned, in ways that place negligible value on human rights, human safety or, in the most harrowing scenarios, human existence’ [4 p.4]. In this regard, one of their policy recommendations is ‘a significant increase in public funding for technical AI safety research in […] alignment: development of technical mechanisms for ensuring AI systems learn and perform in accordance with intended expectations, intentions and values’ so that they are ‘aligned with human values and intentions’ [4 p.11].

Essentially, what the FLI is talking about is the so-called alignment problem . This has been confirmed by Max Tegmark (founder of the FLI) in an interview that he gave to announce and discuss the FLI open letter and the proposed pause and moratorium on AI development. He said: ‘The AI alignment problem is the most important problem for humanity to ever solve’ [ 6 ]. In this paper we take a different stance. Using the FLI open letter as an entry point, our aim is to critically examine the alignment problem thesis, expose some of the main conceptual flaws that undermine its understanding, and propose an alternative thesis on the way contemporary AI technologies are aligned. We argue that, as it is currently formulated in mainstream public discourses, the alignment problem presents several conceptual issues that are problematic not simply from a theoretical perspective. The alignment problem has also policy implications that are influencing the development of AI technologies in a way that fails to recognize important political aspects.

Our critique proceeds in five steps. First, we present the AI alignment problem thesis as it is generally understood particularly in the fields of computer science and philosophy. Second, we review the academic literature within which this contribution is situated, with a focus on socio-technical approaches to the study of AI. Third, we introduce three fundamental misconceptions that undermine the understanding of the alignment problem as it is currently formulated in line with the FLI open letter. These are the idea that AI has the capacity to act on its own volition, the belief that AI development is getting out of control, and the assumption that these are technical and philosophical issues that can be fixed by improving the technology and philosophy underpinning AI innovation. Fourth, we unpack each misconception in an attempt to explain what is causing it. More specifically, we analyze the animistic tendency that people have had particularly since the Industrial Revolution toward new technologies, intended as the belief that lifelike properties such as will and consciousness can be found in machines. We explain this attitude in the age of AI as a “shortcut” that people resort to, in order to make sense of an otherwise unintelligible technology; with the average user more willing to project consciousness on a complex technology such as ChatGPT-4 than to study its algorithms. Then, we draw on the work of Langton Winner and Karl Marx to debunk the myth of the uncontrollability of AI technology; we do so conceptually by building upon complementary insights from political theory and political economy, and empirically through the support of real-life examples showing how across different scales (countries, regions and cities) there are specific actors who are steering the development of AI. Subsequently, we expose the limits of computer science and philosophy when it comes to understanding and solving the political side of the alignment problem; that is the hidden network of stakeholders behind the production of AI. Finally, we reframe the alignment problem thesis with an emphasis on questions of citizen participation and public political engagement, and define key areas for future research.

Overall, as in this paper we are adopting a theoretical approach, our contribution is theoretical in nature and made of two parts. It expands and updates critical political theory on the alleged uncontrollability and autonomy of technology, in light of the recent concerns raised by AI development. It also fleshes out theoretically the AI alignment problem thesis and contributes to its understanding by adding a hitherto missing Marxian socio-technical perspective.

2 Socio-technical perspectives on AI: a review of the literature

This study is informed by and situated within an emerging socio-technical approach to the analysis of the development of AI. At the core of this approach is the awareness of a profound ‘interaction of social and technical processes’ in the production of AI [ 7 p. 180]. Drawing on Latour, Venturini reminds us how ‘the evolution of humans and technologies is a chronicle of mutual entanglement and escalating interdependence’ which we can now observe in the way AI technologies are being generated as part of broader socio-political systems [ 8 p. 107]. There are many examples of interactions between social forces and technological components in the genesis and operation of AI. Pasquinelli, for instance, points out that AI technologies learn by absorbing data that are labelled by humans [ 9 ]. Much of this learning process, so-called machine learning , takes place in the human (and hence social) environment par excellence: the city [ 10 ]. This is where multiple AIs assimilate vast volumes of data by observing human behavior in practice [ 2 ]. In so doing, AIs populate urban spaces and influence the composition of the city itself which is evolving into a complex socio-technical system made of both human and artificial intelligences [ 11 , 12 ].

Recent socio-technical approaches to the study of AI also remind us that this is a technology that is ultimately experienced by humans whose feelings toward its potential benefits and harms influence how it spreads across society [ 13 ]. Moreover, ‘people’s attitudes and perceptions are crucial in the formation and reproduction of the socio-technical imaginaries that sustain technological development’ in the field of AI [ 14 p. 455]. In these terms, in line with Jasanoff’s theory, human feelings contribute to the development of visions of desirable (or undesirable) futures animated by social expectations of technology, which in turn steer the course of technological development [ 15 ].

This approach then recognizes human responsibility in the trajectory and speed of AI development, which is particularly relevant in the context of this critical study on the alignment problem and what we referred to in the introduction as the AI-out-of-control discourse . Korinek and Balwit, for example, frame the alignment problem as a social problem, by taking into account the welfare of the plethora of individuals affected by AI systems, as well as the many stakeholders who actively govern their technological development [ 16 ]. Similarly, from a politico-economic perspective, Dafoe stresses how the production of AI is controlled by countries and multinationals seeking to seize economic benefits [ 17 ]. We adopt a similar approach and draw on Marxian political economy to contribute to the emerging socio-technical literature on AI and its development. As Pasquinelli remarks, back in the 19th century Marx had already understood that ‘the machine is a social relation, not a thing’ and, in this sense, he can be considered a precursor of the socio-technical approach reviewed in this section. [ 18 p. 119]. Marx’s theory of political economy has not been mobilized yet, together with more recent socio-technical perspectives, to critique the mainstream understanding of the alignment problem and identify its adverse policy implications, and this is precisely the gap in knowledge where the following contribution is situated.

3 The alignment problem

The so-called alignment problem is part of a complex and multifaceted debate that extends well beyond academia and encompasses industry, policy and news media too [ 19 ]. This is an ongoing and rapidly evolving debate to which many heterogeneous voices, ranging from AI experts to public intellectuals, are contributing and, as such, it cannot be confined to one single expression. As the purpose of this paper is to critically examine the AI-out-of-control discourse expressed prominently by the FLI open letter discussed in the introduction, in this section we begin by explaining the nature of the alignment problem as it is understood by the FLI and those who adhere to its stance. Step by step, we will then expose the limitations of the FLI’s view on the alignment problem and integrate alternative perspectives, in order to present a more balanced view on the alignment of AI development.

Through the perspective of the FLI open letter, the alignment problem refers mainly to the challenge of developing AIs whose actions are in line with human values and goals [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. This is described and presented as a problem because, for scholars such as Yudkowsky [ 23 ] and Bostrom [ 24 ], there is no guarantee that powerful AI systems (especially hypothetical superintelligent and conscious ones) will act in a way that is compatible with human values and with the preservation of humanity itself. Bostrom [ 24 ] explains this philosophically through the Orthogonality thesis pointing out that intelligence and goals are two orthogonal axes moving along different directions. He concludes that any type of intelligence can in principle follow any type of goal, and that it would be thus safe to assume that a non-human superintelligence might not necessarily follow a humanistic goal [ 24 ].

In turn, Bostrom’s reflections have led computer scientists like Russell [ 25 ] and Hendrycks et al. [ 26 ] to conclude that it is vital to build human-compatible AIs. In practice, as Gabriel [ 27 ] explains, solving the alignment problem has two components, each one encapsulating a set of different but interrelated tasks. The first one is technical in nature and is about formally encoding human values in AI [ 27 ]. This is essentially a computer science challenge consisting in building an ethical understanding of what is good or bad, right or wrong, directly into the algorithms that steer the actions of a given AI [ 25 ]. The second one is philosophical in nature and is about determining what is good and what is bad in the first place, and choosing what specific values will be integrated into AI [ 27 , 28 ].

This is not the place to discuss the practicalities of the alignment problem in-depth, but it is worth mentioning that both components are intrinsically connected to each other, and that over the years have led to interdisciplinary collaborations between computer scientists and ethicists. In this respect, Gabriel’s example is emblematic given that he is a philosopher working for DeepMind i.e. Google. In addition, each individual component is per se hyper complex. The first one is a matter of how AI learns, which makes it a machine learning issue. In his overview of the technical challenge underpinning the alignment problem, Gabriel [ 27 ] notes how there are different machine learning approaches ranging from supervised learning to unsupervised learning, and more experimental techniques such as inverse reinforcement learning whereby AI is not implanted with objectives, but instead ‘can learn more about human preferences from the observation of human behavior’ [ 29 p.8].

There is still no consensus in the computer science community over what the best approach is. As for the philosophical problem, it is important to remember that ethics has been changing and varying for centuries across spaces and times, and moral dilemmas over what is good or bad in the age of AI abound. For instance, what the right conduct should be for AIs that are already present in our society, such as autonomous cars, is a controversial research topic that shows a considerable degree of dissensus within both academia and the public [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Above all, it is important to remember that there is a lack of consensus regarding the nature of the alignment problem itself and its very premises. For example, the theories of Yudkowsky [ 23 ] and Bostrom [ 24 ] concerning the hypothetical emergence of superintelligences have been critiqued and dismissed by other voices in the debate, as sci-fi distractions that risk hindering our focus on already existing problems [ 33 , 34 ].

Similarly, critical social scientists have stressed that AI does not need to be superintelligent to cause harm and that contemporary narrow AIs are already responsible for causing social injustice and environmental degradation [ 35 , 36 ]. These are AIs whose detrimental actions are not based on malign intents since, as it has been repeatedly stressed in critical AI studies, artificial intelligences are amoral entities that are indifferent to questions of right or wrong [ 35 ]. In these terms, the critical side of the debate on the alignment problem ascribes responsibility to the many human stakeholders who shape the development of AI and, therefore, its outcomes. This is why, according to Korinek and Balwit, governance is a key component to the resolution of the alignment problem which then emergences as a social problem, rather than a solely technical and philosophical challenge [ 16 ]. It is in line with these critical perspectives, that we now turn to the FLI’s stance and expose its limitations in an attempt to contribute to a more comprehensive and balanced understanding of the alignment problem.

4 Conceptual misunderstandings of the alignment problem

The alignment problem, as it is understood by the FLI and recognized by scholars in favor of its open letter, presents some critical and interrelated issues in the way the problem is conceptualized, which then risk generating practical repercussions in terms of policy. Conceptual issues can undermine how we come to understand the alignment problem as such, and what in theory is causing it. This is crucial and worth examining because conceptual misunderstandings can severely undermine all the actions and policies that are supposed to mitigate or fix the alignment problem. In essence, if we fail to properly understand a problem, any solution that we conceive becomes useless.

We argue that there are currently three main conceptual issues affecting the mainstream understanding of the AI alignment problem, promoted by the FLI:

The idea of AI as agentic ; meaning a non-human intelligence that has the capacity to act by drawing upon a force of its own, in a way that risks being not aligned with the goals and interests of humanity. Such misunderstanding erroneously pictures humans out-of-the-loop and autonomous AIs in pursuit of non-human objectives.

The perception that the development of powerful AIs and the outcomes of their actions are getting out of control. This is the essence of the AI-out-of-control discourse that we mentioned in introduction, according to which AI development has rapidly become unmanageable in the sense that humans are neither capable to stop it, nor able to direct it towards a scenario where AI does exactly what we want it to do. This misunderstanding erroneously depicts AIs that are no longer guided by human purposes.

The belief that this is a technical and philosophical problem. This misunderstanding erroneously presents a problem that can be solved by means of better algorithms that make AI act exactly the way we want it to act, according to ethical ideals of what is good or bad defined by philosophers.

Such ideas, beliefs and perceptions present some fundamental misconceptions that it is important and urgent to shed light on. There is indeed an alignment problem but, as we will see in the remainder of the paper, it is much more complex than how the FLI and its open letter are depicting it. The FLI’s stance on the alignment problem is not complete and misses crucial social and political aspects that we aim to identify and discuss, in order to add to the debate. Next, we are going to critically examine each of the conceptual issues introduced above, by drawing upon a combination of insights from political theory, socio-technical literature, and Marxian political economy.

5 First conceptual issue: the supposed animus of AI

The idea of technology as an agentic entity capable of drawing upon a force of its own to act and influence the surrounding physical and social environment, is not new. This is a recurring idea that tends to appear again and again at the dawn of major technological revolutions that spawn machines presenting unprecedented capabilities and functions. One of the main examples of this phenomenon in modern history is Marx’s account in the 1800s of the new technologies of the Industrial Revolution, in which we can find clear signs of animism . This is the belief that lifelike properties can be found beyond the human realm and that objects, for instance, including human-made technologies can be animated and alive, thus exhibiting consciousness and possessing the capacity to act according to intentions of their own.

An animistic line of thought posits that animated object can be benign or malign in the way they engage with the human population. In Das Kapital (1867), Marx takes a negative stance toward the animus driving the actions and outcomes of the technologies of the Industrial Revolution. He depicts the 1800s factory and its technological apparatus as a gigantic entity animated by ‘demonic power’, pulsing with engines described as ‘organs’ and acting by means of ‘limbs’ that extend endlessly like mechanical tentacles [ 37 p.416]. His account draws upon a complex techno-gothic imaginary merging then popular gothic novels, including the work of John William Polidori and Mary Shelley, with the technological innovations of the 19th century, through which technology is at times portrayed like a vampire that drains the life and soul of the workers who are creating it [ 38 ].

Similar traces of animism can be found during another major technological revolution: the development of home computers in the 1970s and their diffusion in the 1980s. This becomes particularly evident in the mid 1980s when computer technology begun to be widely popularized through personal computers (PC). It is through the PC that a number of people started to interact with then new computer technologies, finding themselves in the position of having to make sense of this type of technology. As Stahl [ 39 ] observes, in the 1980s discourses surrounding personal computers do not simply refer to technology as an object. For him, the discourse in question has a quasi-magical tone and describes computers as machines possessing intelligence and capable of talking and acting [ 39 ]. He notes that back then ‘the machine was frequently portrayed as the active partner’ in the emerging relationships between humans and computers whom ‘were spoken of in the active voice, as if they had volition’ [ 39 p.246].

Volition is the act of making a conscious choice. It implies having intentions, will and other life-like properties that we commonly associate with humanity rather than machinery. But in the 1980s this conceptual association was being reshaped by new cultural perceptions of technology. When Marx was writing about the technologies of the 19th century, the zeitgeist was characterized (particularly in the West) by a techno-gothic imaginary whereby the properties of the new machines of the industrial age were being interpreted through the lens of monstrous myths. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s instead, we find an emerging sci-fi imaginary promoted by authors such as Isaac Asimov and William Gibson, that introduced to the public the idea of intelligent machines and cultivated the early fantasies about AI [ 40 ]. It is not a coincidence that, around the same time, we have important sociological studies, notably the work of Sherry Turkle [ 41 ], showing that some people were under the impression that computers were intelligent and alive.

The same animistic thread remerges in our contemporary society, starting from the 2010s when relatively powerful AIs begin to enter domestic spaces and everyday life, thereby interacting with a growing number of people. A prominent example of this phenomenon is Siri launched in 2011 by Apple. This is a powerful AI in the sense that it can engage in basic forms of conversation and mediate several activities. It is a step forward compared to the PCs of the 1980s not simply in terms of computational capacity, but also because of how pervasive the technology is. This is a technology that like Amazon’s Alexa is meant to penetrate into people’s private spaces and life; its designed personality seemingly human-like expressed through names, gender and a feminine tone of voice [ 42 ].

For scholars such as Marenko [ 43 p.221], AIs like Siri are triggering a new wave of animism, a digital neo-animism , as ‘we often end up treating our smartphone as if it is alive.’ In these terms, neo-animism is understood as the contemporary belief that novel AI technologies possess lifelike properties such as will, intentionality and consciousness [ 43 ]. Within this strand of literature, the perception of emerging AIs is that of actants which animate our everyday spaces and objects, and ultimately influence our life [ 44 ]. In reality, as we have seen in the first part of this section, there is nothing new about such animistic response to new technologies. Today the response is essentially the same that Marx [ 37 ] gave in the 1800s and that Stahl [ 39 ] reports in the 1980s. The nature of technology has considerably changed, but people’s reaction has not: we find an analogous animistic tendency that portrays a given new technology as an agentic entity capable of acting upon a force and intention of its own. There is thus a long-standing connection between animism and the idea of agentic technologies, which cuts across the last two centuries of the history of technology and our social attitudes toward it.

From the industrial machines of the 1800s to the PCs of the 1980s and, more recently, in relation to the many AIs that permeate our daily life we find the same animistic common denominator. To dig deeper into the subject matter, we need to ask the following questions: Why is this happening? Why does this keep happening through the ages? Why do we develop these animistic tendencies toward new technologies? The answers lie in the longstanding habit of human users to ‘project agency, feelings and creativity onto machines’ [ 45 p.2]. This is animism in action, whereby an inanimate technology, nowadays AI, is perceived as an agentic entity. According to Marenko and Van Allen [ 44 p.54], ‘users tend to attribute personality, agency and intentionality to devices because it is the easiest route to explain behavior.’ In these terms, it is easier to believe that a machine has an animus, than to comprehend the complex mechanisms that make it work in a certain way. Following this line of thought and applying it to the recent wave of AI technologies that is investing our society, we can posit that it is easier to believe that Alexa has a personality or that ChatGPT exhibits some degree of consciousness, compared to how incredibly difficult it would be for most people to study the algorithms whereby these AIs perceive reality and act on it. Animism becomes then a “shortcut” to make sense of AI’s behavior, by assuming that this is an agentic technology possessing lifelike properties, such as consciousness and volition, instead of making an effort to understand the algorithms that make AI behaves in a certain way.

In addition, there is another common denominator underpinning the various waves of animism discussed in this section, and that is the occult of new technologies. A new technology tends to be occult in the sense that its functioning is often beyond the realm of human comprehension, apart from a small group of initiates: those who are building and studying the technology in question. This was true in the 1800s when anyone without a working knowledge of engineering could barely comprehend how then new engines were functioning and why mechanical devices seemed to move on their own. The same was true in the 1980s when most people without a background in computer science could not understand the software that was making PCs work. This is even truer today when the very computer scientists and engineers who are designing and building Large Language Models (LLMs) such as GPT-4 do not fully understand their own creations. As computer scientist Sam Bowman remarks, ‘any attempt at a precise explanation of an LLM’s behavior is doomed to be too complex for any human to understand’ given the countless connections among artificial neurons at play in the production of just one piece of text [ 46 ].

As Greenfield [ 47 ] puts it, AI is an arcane technology that tends to escape human comprehension. Recent empirical research suggests that, around the world, levels of so-called AI literacy , which is the ability to understand and use AI technologies, are low and many users exhibit ‘the tendency to attribute human-like characteristics or attributes to AI systems’ [ 48 p.5]. This problematic epistemological aspect has been repeatedly stressed in Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) literature where AI is often portrayed as a black box intended as a device whose inner workings are extremely difficult to understand [ 49 , 50 , 51 ]. However, while the black box narrative is getting very popular nowadays to highlight the scarce intelligibility of AI systems, it is far from being new. Black box is the same exact term that Stahl [ 39 ] employed to unpack the animistic and quasi-magical attitudes that people had in the 1980s toward PCs. As he observed back then: ‘Computers were powerful, but also mysterious. Their power was ours to use, but not to understand. When technology is a black box, it becomes magical’ [ 39 p.252].

6 Second conceptual issue: the myth of the uncontrollability of AI

The first conceptual issue is connected to the second one: the belief that the development of AI is getting out of control. As Nyholm [ 52 ] notes, ‘whenever there is talk about any form of AI or new technologies more generally, worries about control tend to come up.’ In essence, this is the worry that we humans are unable to safely manage (let alone stop) the creation and diffusion of ever more powerful AIs that appear to be acting upon their own volition. In the previous section, we have critically discussed the animistic notion of technology as a human tendency to project personality and consciousness on new technologies, and to believe that such technologies have volition and can make conscious choices. As we have seen, this is a tendency that becomes evident from the Industrial Revolution onwards and that is triggered by humans’ incapacity to understand how a device showing unprecedented capabilities (being it a 1800s engine or a 21st century Large Language Model such as GPT-4) actually works.

In this section, we tackle the conceptual issue of AI as a technology that seems to be getting out of control. That of technology out of control is a recurring theme in the work of political theorist Langton Winner who has contributed to the development of a critical political theory of technology with his notion of autonomous technology . His is one the initial attempts to develop a socio-technical perspective on the study of technology, in a way that recognizes human responsibility in the trajectory of technological development. According to Winner [ 53 pp.13–15], ‘the idea of autonomous technology’ is ‘the belief that somehow technology has gotten out of control and follows its own course.’ For him [ibid], a technology out of control is one that is running amok ‘and is no longer guided by human purposes’ or controlled by human agency. As we can see from this passage, Winner himself talks about the phenomenon of technology out of control not as a fact, but as a belief . This is a belief that he questions, trying to understand why for a very long time (but particularly in modern and contemporary history) many people seem to believe that the development of technology and its outcomes have gotten out of control.

In his explanation, Winner stresses one issue in particular: speed. He reflects on the velocity of technological innovation, remarking how quickly ‘technology-associated alterations take place’ [ 53 p.89]. In addition, he notes that many of the changes triggered by technological development are usually unintended, concluding that ‘technology always does more than we intend’ [ 53 p.98]. We can build on Winner’s reflections and add that technology-associated alterations that are unintended tend to be also unexpected . While a major technological development triggers changes and leads to outcomes that were unintended, it naturally finds many people unprepared since much of those changes and outcomes were not expected. Referring back to the examples and historical periods discussed in the previous section, we know for instance that some of the major changes and outcomes produced by the Industrial Revolution were both unintended and unexpected, at least for most of the population. The increase in productivity enabled by the new machines of the 19th century were indeed intended and expected [ 54 ]. However, the negative environmental changes (heavy pollution and destruction of natural habitat, in particular) that were triggered by the extraction and consumption of the resources necessary to build and power 1800s machines were not. Nor were the radical socio-economic and geographical transformations associated with the technological innovation of that period. This includes the rapid growth of large and polluted industrial cities and the process of suburbanization whereby the rich were trying to escape from the smokes of industry [ 55 , 56 ]. Not to mention the historical records indicating a significant increase in infectious diseases, alcoholism, domestic violence and, thus, death rates in the large and overcrowded cities of the Industrial Revolution [ 54 , 57 ].

If you were experiencing similar changes (substantial in nature and taking place at a fast pace) it would be easy to feel in a position of no control over technological development. When the production of new technology leads to outcomes that were unintended, unexpected and alter the surrounding social and physical environment, in the words of Winner [ 53 pp.89, 97] ‘we find ourselves both surprised and impotent – victims of technological drift’ with ‘societies going adrift in a vast sea of unintended consequences’ triggered by technological innovation. However, this is partly an illusion. As Winner [ 53 p.53] notes, ‘behind modernization are always the modernizers; behind industrialization, the industrialists.’ The reality then is not that we have lost control of technological development: some of us are in control, and this is usually a minority of powerful individuals who make conscious and deliberate decisions that shape the direction and outcomes of technological innovation. There are thus potent socio-political forces that steer the trajectory of the development of technology, but these are associated with a type of power (the power to shape technological innovation) that is unevenly distributed across society.

Winner [ 53 p.53] is adamant in affirming that ‘the notion that people have lost any of their ability to make choices or exercise control over the course of technological change is unthinkable; for behind the massive process of transformation one always finds a realm of human motives and conscious decisions in which actors at various levels determine which kinds of apparatus, technique, and organizations are going to be developed and applied.’ The problem in contemporary discourses about technological development is the use of general terms such as people and society , implying (like in the case of the FLI open letter) that the whole humanity has lost control over the development of AI technology. Winner’s studies remind us that there are always specific actors making choices that determine the nature, scope and place of technology.

This is the same conclusion that Marx had reached upon reflecting on the origin of 19th century technologies. Despite the animistic passages in Das Kapital quoted in the previous section, Marx was well aware of the fact that the new technologies that he was observing were neither animated nor spawn by demonic forces. There was human agency behind them or, in the words of Marx [ 37 p.462], a ‘master’ who was consciously deploying technology to fulfil specific agendas driven by the will to accumulate capital to the detriment of both laborers and the environment. In essence, the work of Winner and Marx is useful to remember that we can always find someone who is to some extent in control of technological development. Technological innovation is not a process bereft of human intervention. Quite the opposite: it is a human strategy whereby a powerful minority of individuals attempt to get hold of the production of new technology to achieve their own goals. There are plenty of historical examples of such power dynamics as they intersect with and alter technological development, ranging from the development of railways championed by George Stephenson in Victorian England to the mechanization of Soviet agriculture led by Joseph Stalin in the early 1930s [ 54 ]. The problem is that, in the present, we do not see these individuals. We do not see them acting and making choices that shape technological development. What we do see are the technologies that are being produced and the changes that they cause, altering society and the environment at a fast pace.

This problem is connected to the black box problem discussed above. In a way it is an extension of the black box, which is worth unpacking in an attempt to get a glimpse of the big picture. New technologies can be understood as a black box, whether it is a 1980s PC [ 39 ] or a 2020s AI [ 51 ], because their mechanics and functioning remain obscure to their users who ignore their impenetrable operations. However, users also do not see the political economy underpinning the production of new technology, which remains more obscure and inscrutable than the inner mechanics of the technology itself. In other words, most people are unaware of the many political agendas and decisions that set the direction of economic development at different scales (companies, cities, regions and states, for example), which in turn dictate what new technologies will be produced, where and how. Of course, some people do manage to see these intricate politico-economic dynamics, but achieving such awareness requires a considerable effort in terms of research and critical thinking, since this aspect of technological innovation cannot be found at the surface level. A case in point is Marx who was capable of identifying the hand and the mind of the capitalist behind the rapid diffusion of seemingly out-of-control technologies in 19th century England, because he had extensively studied 19th century English political economy. He was fully aware of the big picture. He had penetrated the black box.

More recently, critical social scientists are beginning to shed light on the actors that today are steering the development of AI, and in so doing, triggering significant social and environmental transformations [ 58 , 59 ]. Penetrating the black box means shedding light not simply on the technical aspects of new technologies to understand what makes them function the way they do (whether it is a steam engine in 19th century machines, or software in 1980s PCs, or algorithms in contemporary AIs). It also means exposing the complex political economy that drives the production of new technologies and render visible the network of stakeholders who, guided by human purposes, make choices in an attempt to control the course of technological development and its outcomes. Some of these choices include speed . It would be erroneous to think that technological development proceeds at a faster and faster pace, gaining momentum autonomously like a rock that rolls down a hill and continues moving because of its inertia. The pace of technological development is based on conscious decisions that specific actors make to accelerate its course, in line with pre-determined politico-economic rationales according to which a rapid roll-out of new technologies is expected to accrue certain benefits. The development of new technology might have some degree of inertia but, for the most part, it is tenaciously pushed forward by human hands under the guidance of human logics. Historically, a case in point is that of the Ford Motor Company and its iconic car, the model T, developed in 1908, just five years after the establishment of Ford’s company [ 54 ]. Back then, as Henry Ford himself acknowledged, ‘speed’ was one of the key principles that his company was actively adhering to, implementing ‘high-speed tools’ and perfecting the factory’s assembly line to purposely speed up the production of cars as much as possible [ 60 p.143, 61 p.2170].

In relation to contemporary AI technologies, the phenomenon that has been described so far in conceptual terms, can be also observed in practice across three different scales: country , region and city . The aim here is not to provide an in-depth empirical analysis of how specific actors attempt to take control over AI innovation, but rather to offer an overview of such dynamics and of the logics underpinning them. At the first scale, within many countries, we find national AI strategies. Bareis and Katzenbach [ 62 ], for example, have analyzed the national AI strategies of four key players in the field of AI development, namely China, the United States, Germany and France. In their analysis, they note how ‘the role of the state remains crucial’ as it is in national AI strategies that ‘ideas, announcements and visions start to materialize in projects, infrastructures and organizations’ [ 62 pp.859, 875]. As part of a national AI strategy there are also national research grants through which states finance AI research, thereby boosting AI development, as well as trade sanctions meant to hinder AI development in other states, such as the recent American restrictions on the export of chips to China [ 58 ]. These are important dynamics to highlight because a strategy is a plan of action intended to accomplish specific goals. National AI strategies, therefore, show that AI development is not following its own course independent of human direction. These are evident state-led attempts to capture and steer AI development. In this context, as Bareis and Katzenbach [ 62 p.875] point out, governments explicitly ‘claim agency’ in the production of AI technologies.

At the scale of the region, the dynamics illustrated above become even more evident as the more we zoom in on specific places, the more the agency of specific actors emerges. An emblematic case of regional AI development is Neom in Saudi Arabia. Neom [ 63 ] is a megaproject consisting in the creation of new cities and infrastructures in the north-west of the Arabian Peninsula. The Neom development which includes a new linear city called The Line [ 64 ] has AI as its common denominator, the plan being that all services and infrastructures will be automated by means of algorithms and robotics, and that robots will hold citizenship and coexist with humans in the same urban spaces [ 65 ]. The plan in question is the product of one actor in particular: Mohamed bin Salman (MBS) Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of Neom. There is a specific rationale behind the production of Neom and its technological apparatus. The power of MBS in Saudi Arabia is growing, but the ambitious Crown Prince is relatively young and has a lot of opponents who resent his autocracy [ 66 ]. In this politically unstable context, MBS is seeking to crystallize his position as the sole leader of the Kingdom by investing in megaprojects like Neom, in a bet to boost both his prestige and economic assets. As Hope and Schek [ 67 ] observe, MBS is purposely accelerating the speed of technological development in order to consolidate his power as soon as possible and take his adversaries by surprise. This is a clear example of how the rapid pace of AI innovation does not depend on the inertia of out-of-control technologies, but on the agency of specific individuals.

Finally, when we look at cities, we can identify a fine-grained network of actors who join forces to steer the development of AI in urban spaces. The work of Zhang, Bates and Abbott [ 68 ], for instance, reveals the variegated groups of stakeholders behind smart-city initiatives in China, whereby multiple AI technologies are developed and integrated into the built environment. Recent smart-city studies focused on AI show how the genesis and diffusion of AI technology are often the product of the cooperation between public stakeholders (city councils, planning departments and city managers) and private stakeholders (tech companies, in particular) that have different stakes and pursue different but compatible goals [ 2 ]. As Lee [ 69 ] explains, Chinese tech companies need to push AI innovation forward as for them innovation is the only way to survive in a very competitive and ruthless market. In the same context, city councils tend to follow regional and national strategies of AI development set by China’s State Council, in a way that problematically excludes citizen engagement and bottom-up inputs from the local population [ 70 ]. Referring back to one of the key points made above, the problem is not that humanity has lost control over AI development, but that only a small percentage of it is controlling the creation and diffusion of AI.

7 Third conceptual issue: the overbelief in computer science and philosophy

In addition, the misconceptions that we have discussed so far create a third misunderstanding: the belief that we can regain control over AI by means of better algorithms that compel AI to act exactly the way we want it to act, according to well-defined ethical principles. However, as we have argued in the previous section, we already have control over AI. We humans do not have to gain (or regain) control over artificial intelligences, because we already have it. The problem is that most of us do not have control over AI, and only a minority of powerful stakeholders are controlling and steering the development of AI, often through procedures and decision-making processes that are undemocratic. Therefore, while there is indeed an alignment problem, it is neither a matter of computer science (designing better algorithms), nor simply a matter of philosophy (formulating better ethical principles). The question is political .

It is no mystery that there is a politics to AI [ 71 , 72 , 73 ]. Contrary to what animistic interpretations of AI might suggest, there is no magic in AI. What we are witnessing is not a magic show, but rather a game of politics that a Marxian politico-economic perspective can help us comprehend. In these terms, the AI ethics industry which has been producing a voluminous corpus of ethical guidelines regarding the creation and deployment of AI technology, is not helping us to overcome the impasse discussed in this section. This is a diverse sector comprising a variety of voices, ranging from international organizations and corporations to business consultancies and independent ethicists [ 74 ]. Yet, apart from few critical voices, there is a problematic common denominator [ 75 ]. By and large, this sector is not opposing the diffusion of AI, proposing instead top-down technical and philosophical solutions which, by targeting the development of ethically sound algorithms and refined ethical codes, fail to engage with citizens who are ultimately marginalized in the politics of AI. A significant portion of contemporary AI ethics is thus part of the same political economy that we have critiqued so far and risks causing ‘ethics shopping’ whereby some ‘stakeholders may be tempted to “shop” for the most appealing’ ethical principles and ignore the issue of citizen engagement to which we now turn [ 75 p.390, 76 p.2].

8 Reframing the alignment problem thesis from a Marxian perspective

In relation to the alignment problem discussed so far, a Marxian perspective is useful to note that much of the labor involved in the production of AI is problematically not involved in steering the course of its development. In this context, labor includes for example the myriad ghost workers who are underpaid to train AIs, as well as the countless citizens who become data points and get their personal information extracted, mostly via social media, through processes of surveillance capitalism that, as Zuboff remarks, ultimately feed AI systems [ 77 , 78 ]. There is thus an evident unethical situation of exploitation at play, since many of the people whose labor and data are used to develop AI, are not contributing to the political agendas and decisions that actually shape AI developments.

In Marxian terms then, reframing the alignment problem means acknowledging this problematic political issue, beyond the already recognized technical and philosophical problems that dominate much of current public discourses. In these terms, AI ethics needs to recognize the fundamental presence of humans in the making of AI systems by integrating a socio-technical perspective, and take into serious consideration the uneven power relations that control their development. In theory, this calls for more participation and extended stakeholder engagement in AI ethics. In practice, we envision public engagement, particularly at the smallest scale examined in this paper i.e. the city, in line with two examples. First is the case of Barcelona where citizens’ opinions are increasingly being included in the local AI-driven platform for urban governance, de facto influencing its application and purpose [ 79 ]. Second is the case of San Francisco where in 2022 citizens protested against weaponized police robots, and managed to stop their deployment in the city [ 80 ]. The first example is a story of democratic political engagement, while the second story is about an agonistic political act carried out by expressing dissensus [ 81 , 82 ].

9 Conclusions: illuminating the obscure politics of AI

As this paper has shown, there are three fundamental misconceptions about the alignment problem as it is often formulated and understood in mainstream public discourses, such as in the case of the FLI open letter. The first and the second one depict a situation in which AI is acting on its own volition and getting out of control. These two misunderstandings are two sides of the same black box issue discussed throughout the paper. We do not understand the complex machine learning techniques and algorithms whereby AI learns about the surrounding environment and act on it and, therefore, many of us resort to animism as a “shortcut” to explain the behavior of hyper complex and unintelligible AI technologies such as ChatGPT. In addition, we do not understand the complex political economy driving the production of AI technology and we do not see the fine-grained network of actors who, across different scales (countries, regions and cities), make decisions that steer the development of AI. In this regard, we have drawn on the examples of national AI strategies by means of which state-actors explicitly attempt to control the production of AI technologies, of the high-tech Neom project of regional development tightly controlled by the Saudi Crown Prince, and of Chinese smart-city initiatives steered by partnerships between public stakeholders and AI companies.

Failing to comprehend these politico-economic dynamics gives us the illusion that AI innovation occurs at a fast pace propelled by an incontrollable momentum, while speed itself is a conscious strategy implemented by human stakeholders in line with human-made agendas. These two misunderstandings give rise to a third misunderstanding, the belief that computer science and philosophy alone can help us solve the alignment problem and, in turn, invalidate much of the current strategies and policies that are being developed worldwide to realign AI development, such as the moratorium proposed by the FLI in its open letter. AI is neither acting on its own volition nor is it getting out of control. In this paper we have debunked the AI-out-of-control discourse and stressed that AI is controlled by a minority of powerful human stakeholders. This makes the alignment problem not a computer science problem or a philosophical issue, but rather an acute political problem.

The politics of AI is still, by and large, an uncharted and obscure territory that needs to be empirically understood in detail across different scales. As states forge national AI strategies, regions develop AI infrastructures, and cities integrate AI technologies into the built environment, it is key that future research seeks to identify who exactly is controlling the production of AI and how. This is the politico-economic side of the black box that we know is there, but that we have not penetrated yet, by digging into the thick layers of decision-making processes whereby AI innovation takes place. In addition, areas of future research should include public participation in the politics of AI in both theory and practice. Empirically, this means examining in more detail cases, such as those of Barcelona and San Francisco, in which citizens are manifesting different forms of political engagement [ 79 , 80 ]. Theoretically, this is about drawing on political theory to theorize alternative participatory politics of AI.

In this regard, Mouffe’s theory of agonistic politics and Rancière’s notion of dissensus can be useful to imagine a politics of AI whereby citizens can opt against some types of AI [ 81 , 82 ]. This would rectify the current imbalance in contemporary AI ethics in which most efforts go into improving the use of AI rather than objecting it in the first place. As this paper has shown from a socio-technical perspective, AI development is not a magic show: it is a game of politics. If we pay attention to the hidden puppeteers, not on the puppet, then we can start realigning the development of AI to common goals, and this could also mean say no to AI and end the game.

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Acknowledgements

Intellectually this paper benefitted enormously from the comments of four anonymous reviewers, and financially from the support of the Irish Research Council.

Open Access funding provided by the IReL Consortium. https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002081 Irish Research Council, IRCLA/2022/3832. Prof. Federico Cugurullo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0625-8868 .

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Cugurullo, F. The obscure politics of artificial intelligence: a Marxian socio-technical critique of the AI alignment problem thesis. AI Ethics (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-024-00476-9

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南京大学学位论文 Typst 模板 modern-nju-thesis

nju-lug/modern-nju-thesis

Folders and files, repository files navigation, 南京大学学位论文 modern-nju-thesis.

南京大学毕业论文（设计）的 Typst 模板，能够简洁、快速、持续生成 PDF 格式的毕业论文。 Typst Universe

Typst 非官方中文交流群：793548390

南京大学 Typst 交流群：943622984

Typst 是一门新生的排版标记语言，还做不到像 Word 或 LaTeX 一样成熟稳定。
该模板并非官方模板，而是民间模板，存在不被认可的风险。

Typst 是可用于出版的可编程标记语言，拥有变量、函数与包管理等现代编程语言的特性，注重于科学写作 (science writing)，定位与 LaTeX 相似。可以阅读我的一篇知乎文章进一步了解 Typst 的优势。

语法简洁：上手难度跟 Markdown 相当，文本源码阅读性高，不会像 LaTeX 一样充斥着反斜杠与花括号。
编译速度快：Typst 使用 Rust 语言编写，即 typ(esetting+ru)st，目标运行平台是WASM，即浏览器本地离线运行；也可以编译成命令行工具，采用一种增量编译算法和一种有约束的版面缓存方案，文档长度基本不会影响编译速度，且编译速度与常见 Markdown 渲染引擎渲染速度相当。
环境搭建简单：不需要像 LaTeX 一样折腾几个 G 的开发环境，原生支持中日韩等非拉丁语言，无论是官方 Web App 在线编辑，还是使用 VS Code 安装插件本地开发，都是即开即用。
现代编程语言：Typst 是可用于出版的可编程标记语言，拥有变量、函数、包管理与错误检查等现代编程语言的特性，同时也提供了闭包等特性，便于进行函数式编程。以及包括了 [标记模式] 、 {脚本模式} 与 $数学模式$ 等多种模式的作用域，并且它们可以不限深度地、交互地嵌套。并且通过包管理，你不再需要像 TexLive 一样在本地安装一大堆并不必要的宏包，而是按需自动从云端下载。

可以参考我参与搭建和翻译的 Typst 中文文档网站迅速入门。

快速浏览效果: 查看 thesis.pdf ，样例论文源码：查看 thesis.typ

你只需要修改 thesis.typ 文件即可，基本可以满足你的所有需求。

如果你认为不能满足你的需求，可以先查阅后面的 Q&A 部分。

模板已经上传到了 Typst Universe，使用起来十分简单，理论上只需要通过

Typst 提供了官方的 Web App，支持像 Overleaf 一样在线编辑，这是一个例子。

实际上，我们只需要在 Web App 中的 Start from template 里选择 modern-nju-thesis ，即可在线创建模板并使用。

但是 Web App 并没有安装本地 Windows 或 MacOS 所拥有的字体，所以字体上可能存在差异，所以推荐本地编辑！

你需要手动上传 fonts 目录下的字体文件到项目中，否则会导致显示错误，出现空白！

PS: 虽然与 Overleaf 看起来相似，但是它们底层原理并不相同。Overleaf 是在后台服务器运行了一个 LaTeX 编译器，本质上是计算密集型的服务；而 Typst 只需要在浏览器端使用 WASM 技术执行，本质上是 IO 密集型的服务，所以对服务器压力很小（只需要负责文件的云存储与协作同步功能）。

VS Code 本地编辑（推荐）

也推荐下载 Typst Companion 插件，其提供了例如 Ctrl + B 进行加粗等便捷的快捷键。
你还可以下载我开发的 Typst Sync 和 Typst Sympy Calculator 插件，前者提供了本地包的云同步功能，后者提供了基于 Typst 语法的科学计算器功能。
按下 Ctrl + Shift + P 打开命令界面，输入 Typst: Show available Typst templates (gallery) for picking up a template 打开 Tinymist 提供的 Template Gallery，然后从里面找到 modern-nju-thesis ，点击 ❤ 按钮进行收藏，以及点击 + 号，就可以创建对应的论文模板了。
最后用 VS Code 打开生成的目录，打开 thesis.typ 文件，并按下 Ctrl + K V 进行实时编辑和预览。

编写更详细的说明文档，后续考虑使用 tidy 编写，你现在可以先参考 NJUThesis 的文档，参数大体保持一致，或者直接查阅对应源码函数的参数
应该对所有函数入参进行类型检查，及时报错
类似 LaTeX 中的 documentclass 的全局信息配置
盲审模式，将个人信息替换成小黑条，并且隐藏致谢页面，论文提交阶段使用
双面模式，会加入空白页，便于打印
自定义字体配置，可以配置「宋体」、「黑体」与「楷体」等字体对应的具体字体
数学字体配置：模板不提供配置，用户可以自己使用 #show math.equation: set text(font: "Fira Math") 更改
表格使用 1.1 格式进行编号
数学公式使用 (1.1) 格式进行编号
定理环境（这个也可以自己使用第三方包配置）

还实现了本科生和研究生的开题报告，只需要预览和编辑 others 目录下的文件即可。

我不会 LaTeX，可以用这个模板写论文吗？

如果你不关注模板的具体实现原理，你可以用 Markdown Like 的语法进行编写，只需要按照模板的结构编写即可。

我不会编程，可以用这个模板写论文吗？

如果仅仅是当成是入门一款类似于 Markdown 的语言，相信使用该模板的体验会比使用 Word 编写更好。

为什么我的字体没有显示出来，而是一个个「豆腐块」？

这是因为本地没有对应的字体，这种情况经常发生在 MacOS 的「楷体」显示上。

你应该安装本目录下的 fonts 里的所有字体，里面包含了可以免费商用的「方正楷体」和「方正仿宋」，然后再重新渲染测试即可。

你可以使用 #fonts-display-page() 显示一个字体渲染测试页面，查看对应的字体是否显示成功。

如果还是不能成功，你可以按照模板里的说明自行配置字体，例如

先是填写英文字体，然后再填写你需要的「楷体」中文字体。

字体名称可以通过 typst fonts 命令查询。

如果找不到你所需要的字体，可能是因为该字体变体（Variants）数量过少，导致 Typst 无法识别到该中文字体。

学习 Typst 需要多久？

一般而言，仅仅进行简单的编写，不关注布局的话，你可以打开模板就开始写了。

如果你想进一步学习 Typst 的语法，例如如何排篇布局，如何设置页脚页眉等，一般只需要几个小时就能学会。

如果你还想学习 Typst 的「元信息」部分，进而能够编写自己的模板，一般而言需要几天的时间阅读文档，以及他人编写的模板代码。

如果你有 Python 或 JavaScript 等脚本语言的编写经验，了解过函数式编程、宏、样式、组件化开发等概念，入门速度会快很多。

我有编写 LaTeX 的经验，如何快速入门？

可以参考面向 LaTeX 用户的 Typst 入门指南。

目前 Typst 有哪些第三方包和模板？

可以查看 Typst Universe 。

为什么只有一个 thesis.typ 文件，没有按章节分多个文件？

因为 Typst 语法足够简洁、编译速度足够快、并且拥有光标点击处双向链接功能。

语法简洁的好处是，即使把所有内容都写在同一个文件，你也可以很简单地分辨出各个部分的内容。

编译速度足够快的好处是，你不再需要像 LaTeX 一样，将内容分散在几个文件，并通过注释的方式提高编译速度。

光标点击处双向链接功能，使得你可以直接拖动预览窗口到你想要的位置，然后用鼠标点击即可到达对应源码所在位置。

还有一个好处是，单个源文件便于同步和分享。

即使你还是想要分成几个章节，也是可以的，Typst 支持你使用 #import 和 #include 语法将其他文件的内容导入或置入。你可以新建文件夹 chapters ，然后将各个章节的源文件放进去，然后通过 #include 置入 thesis.typ 里。

我如何更改页面上的样式？具体的语法是怎么样的？

理论上你并不需要更改 nju-thesis 目录下的任何文件，无论是样式还是其他的配置，你都可以在 thesis.typ 文件内修改函数参数实现更改。具体的更改方式可以阅读 nju-thesis 目录下的文件的函数参数。

例如，想要更改页面边距为 50pt ，只需要将

后续我也会编写一个更详细的文档，可能会考虑使用 tidy 来编写。

如果你阅读了那些函数的参数，仍然不知道如何修改得到你需要的样式，欢迎提出 Issue，只要描述清楚问题即可。

或者也欢迎加群讨论：943622984

该模板和其他现存 Typst 中文论文模板的区别？

其他现存的 Typst 中文论文模板大多都是在 2023 年 7 月份之前（Typst Verison 0.6 之前）开发的，当时 Typst 还不不够成熟，甚至连包管理功能都还没有，因此当时的 Typst 中文论文模板的开发者基本都是自己从头写了一遍需要的功能/函数，因此造成了代码耦合度高、意大利面条式代码、重复造轮子与难以自定义样式等问题。

该模板是在 2023 年 10 ～ 11 月份（Typst Verison 0.9 时）开发的，此时 Typst 语法基本稳定，并且提供了包管理功能，因此能够减少很多不必要的代码。

并且我对模板的文件架构进行了解耦，主要分为了 utils 、 pages 和 layouts 三个目录，这三个目录可以看后文的开发者指南，并且使用闭包特性实现了类似不可变全局变量的全局配置能力，即模板中的 documentclass 函数类。

我不是南京大学本科生，如何迁移该模板？

我在开发的过程中已经对模板的各个模板进行了解耦，理论上你只需要在 pages 目录中加入你需要的页面，然后更改少许、或者不需要更改其他目录的代码。

具体目录职责划分可以看下面的开发者指南。

template 目录

thesis.typ 文件: 你的论文源文件，可以随意更改这个文件的名字，甚至你可以将这个文件在同级目录下复制多份，维持多个版本。
ref.bib 文件: 用于放置参考文献。
images 目录: 用于放置图片。
utils 目录: 包含了模板使用到的各种自定义辅助函数，存放没有外部依赖，且不会渲染出页面的函数。
pages 目录: 包含了模板用到的各个独立页面，例如封面页、声明页、摘要等，即会渲染出不影响其他页面的独立页面的函数。
主要分成了 doc 文稿、 preface 前言、 mainmatter 正文与 appendix 附录/后记。
职责一 : 作为一个统一的对外接口，暴露出内部的 utils 函数。
职责二 : 使用函数闭包特性，通过 documentclass 函数类进行全局信息配置，然后暴露出拥有了全局配置的、具体的 layouts 和 pages 内部函数。
在 Issues 中提出你的想法，如果是新特性，可以加入路线图！
实现路线图中仍未实现的部分，然后欢迎提出你的 PR。
同样欢迎将这个模板迁移至你的学校论文模板，大家一起搭建更好的 Typst 社区和生态吧。
感谢 @atxy-blip 开发的 NJUThesis LaTeX 模板，文档十分详细，本模板大体结构都是参考 NJUThesis 的文档开发的。
感谢 @csimide 帮忙补充的 bilingual-bibliography 。
感谢 HUST-typst-template 与 sysu-thesis-typst 等 Typst 中文论文模板。

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Contributors 2

Typst 96.7%

Varda Space’s orbital drug factory success fuels $90M in new funding

Varda Space Industries has closed a massive tranche of funding just weeks after its first drug manufacturing capsule returned from orbit.

The company’s $90 million Series B round marks an inflection point for the company, which is now gearing up to scale from the initial demonstration mission to a regular set of missions carrying customer payloads, Varda founder Delian Asparouhov told TechCrunch.

El Segundo-based Varda was founded in 2021 by Asparouhov, who is also a partner at Founders Fund, and Will Bruey, a spacecraft engineer who cut his teeth at SpaceX. The pair had an audacious goal to commercialize what until very recently was promising but ultimately small-scale research into the effects of microgravity on pharmaceutical crystals.

Indeed, Varda’s first mission, which returned to Earth in February after 10 months in orbit, does not mark the first time a drug has been crystallized in microgravity. Astronauts have been conducting protein crystallization experiments in space for decades on the International Space Station and before that, the Space Shuttle.

But the business case for expanding this research has never materialized — until now. This is for a few different reasons, Asparouhov explained: because of the crew, there are significant limitations to the types of solvents or other materials you can bring onboard the ISS; there are constraints related to intellectual property for work that happens on the station; and pharmaceutical lab equipment designed for use in-space was generally lacking in sophistication compared to the terrestrial versions.

But much has changed, especially in the space industry. Part of the reason Varda is possible today is due to the availability of regular, low-cost rideshare launches from SpaceX and Rocket Lab’s innovations in satellite bus manufacturing. Even beyond these external partnerships, the startup has made significant headway in its own right, as the success of the first mission showed: Their reentry capsule appears to have performed flawlessly and the experiment to reformulate the HIV medicine ritonavir was executed without a hitch, it says.

Varda has also started publishing the results of its internal R&D efforts, including a scientific paper on its hyper-gravity (as opposed to microgravity) crystallization platform, which the startup developed as a sort of screening method prior to sending drugs to space. It’s an entirely new field of research that takes advantage of the ability to truly unlock gravity as a variable in scientific experiments.

Image Credits: Varda Space Industries (opens in a new window)

“Over time, we will be able to generate data sets between both hyper-gravity and microgravity and start to show correlations,” he said. “As Varda flies more and more, we are confident that we will start to be able to develop systems of thinking where, for patterns of particular types of chemical systems, hyper-gravity will be used as a way to determine the correlation between, ultimately, microgravity and the drug performance.”

There’s still lots of work ahead. While engineers will study this first spacecraft, called Winnebago, to understand the wear and tear on the vehicle, the company as a whole will focus more on cadence before reusability, he said.

“If you just amortize the total cost to operate the business, we have so much more to gain by initially increasing cadence of flights before we really started to go for reusability. In some ways, it’s like we need to get to a once-a-month cadence before reusability is actually the biggest lever for us.”

Varda does aim to significantly drive down mission costs by refurbishing and reusing the Winnebago capsules, as SpaceX does with its Dragon capsule, but Asparouhov said that won’t happen until later in the decade, around 2027. ( In a recent podcast appearance , he specified that the all-in initial mission cost around $12 million, which will drop to $5-6 million by mission 4 and $2.5 million or less by mission 10.) Larger capsules are also in the longer-term pipeline, though also not until the 2027 time frame.

Asparouhov also confirmed that pharmaceuticals will be Varda’s sole focus for the next 10-20 (or more) years, based on the company’s conviction that pharmaceutical products will generate more economic value compared to other materials. A lot of that comes down to the fact that there are a significant set of drugs that require only a “seed” of the material that can only be made in microgravity, and the rest of the drug formulation can be completed here on Earth. That means the product is high revenue but low mass.

The company is also aiming to improve the processing capabilities of the on-board pharmaceutical reactor. The first mission carried just one drug protein, but in the future the company hopes to process multiple drug products that could be run through different processing regimes. In the future, other missions could carry larger reactors for drugs that do need more than the “seed” crystal, and those mission profiles would be closer to something like mass manufacturing.

Varda has “a handful” of signed contracts with publicly traded biotech companies, and the next three missions already manifested with Rocket Lab, which provided the spacecraft bus for mission 1. The startup’s next manufacturing mission will launch later this year, and the team plans to land that spacecraft in Australia.

The new financing was led by Caffeinated Capital, with participation from Lux Capital, General Catalyst, Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures. Varda has now raised $145 million to date.

The official Heimarmene: Closing Night podcast. Learn insider scoops on the game’s development directly from the design team, hear about upcoming events and recent playtests and get to know the devs.

Muse Chat: The Development of Heimarmene: Closing Night Heimarmene: Closing Night

APR 9, 2024

Episode6: John Hansard gallery April 20th

Come join us at the John Hansard gallery in Southampton for our show the 20th of April! Join us in this podcast episode to hear Ari's despicably bad mathematics.

MAR 25, 2024

Episode 5: a special guest

Today we take a chance to speak to a fellow game developer and potential player. We refine our pitching skills and get a fresh perspective on the game.

MAR 18, 2024

Episode 4: Essays and game jams

mostly banter episode for an unproductive week. Today we talk about essay writing, this week's ukie game jam and we tell stories of ancient Greek plays. listen until the end for events information!

MAR 12, 2024

episode 3: playtesting the new system

this week we conducted the first full playtest using the new game system Liz designed, tune in to see how it went and what changes we made. Design is also part of the discussion as we talk about art and literature that inspired us.

MAR 4, 2024

Episode 2: studio visit and redesigning games

This week we discuss our studio visit and some great advice we were given by the game designers there. Liz tackles redesigning and rebalancing our game from scratch and we strive together to answer the age old question: which one of Ari's parents is most likely to cheat? Tune in to find the answer.

FEB 25, 2024

Episode 1: Pilot (Marketing and Playtesting)

The pilot episode of our podcast! Today we’re discussing the outcome of our most recent playtest, as well as merchandise, art style choices and the perils of social media.

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A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should "telegraph" how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay. Steps in Constructing a Thesis. First, analyze your primary sources. Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication.
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People's participation as a tool for enhanced rural development in Ghana. Owusu, Beatrice Zachia (2022-09-02) This thesis examined the value of the people's participation as a strategy for rural-focused development programmes. The term participation is used in this thesis to refer to the involvement of locals in the processes of ...
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The thesis statement is the brief articulation of your paper's central argument and purpose. You might hear it referred to as simply a "thesis." Every scholarly paper should have a thesis statement, and strong thesis statements are concise, specific, and arguable. ... This thesis statement is not capable of development or advancement in the paper:
Thesis Statements
A thesis statement: tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion. is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself.
PDF Personal Growth and Personality Development: Well-being and Ego Development
Conclusion. In sum, the current set of studies provided an initial exploration of the relation of the phenomenological feelings of growing to actual personality development. Personal growth was, indeed, found to be related to ego development. As in previous research, personal growth was also related to well-being.
Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations
human resource development professionals' competencies and career success in the service industry: a qualitative study, cheryl deponte. pdf. evaluating healthcare student learning performance during the initial year of the covid-19 pandemic: a case study, maria d. garcia-villarreal. pdf
The obscure politics of artificial intelligence: a Marxian socio
This study is informed by and situated within an emerging socio-technical approach to the analysis of the development of AI. At the core of this approach is the awareness of a profound 'interaction of social and technical processes' in the production of AI [7 p. 180].Drawing on Latour, Venturini reminds us how 'the evolution of humans and technologies is a chronicle of mutual ...
南京大学学位论文 modern-nju-thesis
实际上，我们只需要在 Web App 中的 Start from template 里选择 modern-nju-thesis ，即可在线创建模板并使用。. 但是 Web App 并没有安装本地 Windows 或 MacOS 所拥有的字体，所以字体上可能存在差异，所以推荐本地编辑!. 你需要手动上传 fonts 目录下的字体文件到项目中 ...
Varda Space's orbital drug factory success fuels $90M in new funding
Image Credits: Varda Space Industries. has closed a massive tranche of funding just weeks after its first drug manufacturing capsule returned from orbit. The company's $90 million Series B round ...
Muse Chat: The Development of Heimarmene: Closing Night
Learn insider scoops on the game's development directly from the design team, hear about upcoming events and recent playtests and get to know the devs. MAR 25, 2024; Episode 5: a special guest ... Episode 4: Essays and game jams. mostly banter episode for an unproductive week. Today we talk about essay writing, this week's ukie game jam and ...

What is a thesis statement?

Identify a topic

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Sample assignment 1

Sample assignment 2

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Derive a main point from topic

Look for patterns in your evidence

Purpose statement

Derive purpose statement from topic

Compose a draft thesis statement

Question-to-Assertion

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Refine and polish the thesis statement

Sample Assignment

Complete the final thesis statement

Writing Process and Structure

Getting Started with Your Paper

Creating an Argument

Working with Sources

Drafting Your Paper

Revising Your Paper

Finishing Your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Broad thesis (arguable, but difficult to support with evidence)

Arguable thesis with analytical claim

Arguable thesis with normative claim

Questions to ask about your thesis

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PhD thesis Ensuring Sustainable Development within a Changing Climate

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Writing a Paper: Thesis Statements

Being Specific

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Introduction

What is a thesis statement?

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The obscure politics of artificial intelligence: a Marxian socio-technical critique of the AI alignment problem thesis

Cite this article

1 Introduction: AI out of control?

2 Socio-technical perspectives on AI: a review of the literature

3 The alignment problem

4 Conceptual misunderstandings of the alignment problem

5 First conceptual issue: the supposed animus of AI

6 Second conceptual issue: the myth of the uncontrollability of AI

7 Third conceptual issue: the overbelief in computer science and philosophy

8 Reframing the alignment problem thesis from a Marxian perspective

9 Conclusions: illuminating the obscure politics of AI