The research conceptually outlines the nodal importance of narration as a crucial tool supporting stakeholders’ moral imagination in the conception of desirable alternatives to the critical existing status quo. This due to the fact that stories enable people to better understand reality decreasing, at the same time, the ethical pressure related to decisions and actions. Narrative is indeed a central and characterizing human activity orienting – through projections – moral choices, thanks to the evaluation of prospective effects. This is a pathway for value creation based on cooperative generation of knowledge to fully understand the big picture, thereby overcoming problems, crises and trade-offs.
Into this groove, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can play a valuable supporting function thanks to its computing and creative capacity becoming a convenient assistant for stakeholders during the genesis of alternate representations as possible “what if…”. AI can in fact contribute to envision further scenarios, making moral imagination even more inventive. Taking into account the doubts and risks connected to AI, control and management of technological tools is needed by the involved stakeholders, to orient the solutions without, of course, limiting the innovative potential. This represents a royal road to overcome a well-known, diffused and increasing resistance and opposition to the cooperation between human and non-human agents.
The paper thus contributes to the concept of moral imagination by adding stakeholders’ stories co-design as a creative form of moral imagination and investigating the ancillary role of AI.
The limit of the work is represented by the earlier stage of the still ongoing analysis.