Support and fracture: understanding sociotechnical imaginaries in Chinese grassroots’ AI governance frames

This study examines how Chinese grassroots publics construct and contest sociotechnical imaginaries (SIs) of AI governance. Drawing on six online focus groups with 30 non-expert participants, we integrate SIs with Technological Frame to explore three dimensions of AI imaginaries: social representations, governance mechanisms, and future trajectories. Findings reveal a marked divergence between instrumentalist and humanistic imaginaries, generating competing narratives at the intersection of technological development and governance. However, these imaginaries are constrained by structural power asymmetries that limit grassroots publics’ capacities to envision future technological directions. This constraint gives rise to SIs fracture, a loss of imaginative agency where idealized futures feel inaccessible. As a result, individuals retreat from governance discourse, perceiving AI development as a vehicle for disempowering control. This study thus highlights how structural power asymmetries undermine public imaginaries and pose critical risks to inclusive technological futures.