Towards Hype Assessment
This article proposes Hype Assessment (HA) as a necessary extension of Technology Assessment (TA) to address the performative power of overpromising in contemporary innovation systems. While traditional TA evaluates the potential consequences of technological artifacts, it increasingly faces the &am...
| Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | article |
| Status: | Versión aceptada para publicación |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) |
| Repository: | O2, repositorio institucional de la UOC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:dnet:orepositorio::5550be043e466479f948177282273b85 |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10609/155220 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Hype Assessment Technology Assessment, Futures, Governance, Uncertainty, Hype Studies |
| Summary: | This article proposes Hype Assessment (HA) as a necessary extension of Technology Assessment (TA) to address the performative power of overpromising in contemporary innovation systems. While traditional TA evaluates the potential consequences of technological artifacts, it increasingly faces the "epistemic instability" of visionary claims that lack empirical support yet dominate public and political attention. Hype is conceptualized as a deliberate mode of "future capture" that coordinates capital, attention, and legitimacy through spectacle and "strategic ambiguity" rather than future literacy. The article argues that hype acts as a constitutive force that influences technological trajectories long before they are realized, often bypassing democratic deliberation in favor of techno-solutionism. To address this, Hype Assessment shifts the analytical focus to the regimes of future-making through four core dimensions: actor, affective, temporal and political; and three intervention areas: inclusion and public accountability, the deconstruction of how uncertainty and complexity are bridged through performative trajectories, and capacity building through hype literacy. By drawing on a methodological toolkit that includes hype literacy, narrative analysis, and participatory workshops, HA aims to strengthen reflexivity and restore democratic accountability in the governance of emerging technofutures. |
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