10 January 2025, Volume 4 Issue 1

    

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SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
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  What is AI Sociology?

  Jing Jun

  Journal of Intelligent Society. 2025, 4(1): 1-20.

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  This discussion examines generative AI as an anthropomorphic subject for sociological research, akin to how sociology traditionally focuses on human beings as its ultimate subject of study. The recent emergence of multi-modal large language models not only allows for the imitation of human language, but also in some instances, has fostered deep, almost intimate connections between users and AI companionship agents. In response to these anthropomorphic characteristics, sociologists must critically examine the black-box algorithms, the errors and biases inherent in AI systems, as well as the exaggerated claims made by certain media and corporations. Moreover, it is essential to emphasize that the development and training of AI systems, such as large language models, urgently require sociological perspectives and input
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  Empirical Social Science Research in Big-Data Perspective

  Bian Yanjie, Miao Xiaolei

  Journal of Intelligent Society. 2025, 4(1): 21-42.

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  Big data provides both rich data resources and analytical dimensions for the social sciences, promoting a paradigm shift in empirical research from macro to micro, from interpretation to prediction, and from theory to data. Valuing the five principles of empirical science (exploration of new knowledge, skepticism, theoretical explanation, verifiability, and evidence-based approach), this article discusses the respective characteristics and scientific significance of four data forms: case studies, experiments, surveys, and big data. Furthermore, it proposes four pathways to integrate traditional data forms with big data: (1) big data analysis of substantive issues, (2) measurement improvement through big data, (3) theory-guided big data prediction, and (4) offline random sampling for online data collection. These pathways not only enrich data sources and enhance analytic depth, but also improve the scientific approach and time-efficiency of empirical research. Finally, the article proposes data-driven, theory-informed empirical research as the future direction of social science research, whose functions include theoretical verification and discovery driven by big data, integration of data mining and measurement, analysis of group characteristics and overall trends, and combination of real-world and virtualworld samples. These functions will manifest the key role of big data in promoting theoretical breakthroughs and methodological improvement in the social sciences.
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  Human Solidarity in the Age of Digital Intelligence: Technological Change and Theoretical Reconstruction

  Qiu Zeqi

  Journal of Intelligent Society. 2025, 4(1): 43-69.

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  The classical theory of social solidarity has a significant gap: it overlooks the role of technology. Connection technologies not only influence the mechanisms of social connection but also shape the forms of social solidarity. Since Durkheim??s time, the nature of social connections has evolved from physical interactions to more abstract forms, leading to a transformation in social solidarity from organic to ecological. In the age of digital intelligence, machines act as autonomous quasi-human agents, participating in the production, daily life, and even the construction of meaning for humans. Consequently, classical social solidarity theory becomes inadequate as it is confined to human interactions alone. This paper posits that the social connection mechanism is shifting from abstract connections to human-machine connections, and that ecological solidarity is evolving back into a form of human solidarity in contrast with machines. It further asserts that human solidarity fundamentally embodies a mutuality between humans and machines. Mechanistically, this mutuality manifests through the mutual?construction of human-machine agents, ethical synergies in actions, and recursive governance practices. The ultimate aim of human solidarity is to uphold human subjectivity and dignity while recognizing the autonomy of machines. Furthermore, this paper advocates for sovereign states to collaboratively maintain human unity, grounded in the foundational structure of human social organization.
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  Digital Revolution on Social Theory

  Zheng Li, Li Manyu

  Journal of Intelligent Society. 2025, 4(1): 70-88.

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  With the rapid development of digital technologies, research methods and theoretical paradigms in social sciences are undergoing profound transformation. Unlike traditional quantitative methods and causal inference approaches, computational social science provides unprecedented explanatory and predictive power for complex social phenomena through algorithmdriven simulation modeling and data mining. This paper focuses on the revolutionary impact of digital technology on social theory, exploring how digital technologies, while simultaneously driving paradigmatic shifts in social science research, reshape the foundational logic and knowledge systems of social theory. The research indicates that, driven by big data and artificial intelligence, social theory has undergone transformative shifts toward an analog turn, singularity logic, and human-machine symbiotic knowledge production paradigms.
THEMATIC PAPERS
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  On Hierarchical System of Problem Consciousness: Taking the Research on AIUnemployment as an Example

  Liu Jun, Hou Wenbing, Yan Shihao

  Journal of Intelligent Society. 2025, 4(1): 89-110.

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  Some scholars argue that AI will lead to massive unemployment, while others believe AI will promote employment. How to understand the validity of these opposing views? The authors suggest that this divergence stems from the scholars?? differing “problem consciousness”. Problem consciousness plays a crucial role in daily life, academic research, and social governance. The article reviews various perspectives on “ problem consciousness”, including “being aware of problems”, “concern for reality”, and “reflection and critique”, and finds that scholars often rigidly interpret problem consciousness without recognizing its system. Subsequently, the article proposes its own viewpoint: problem consciousness is a system encompassing three layers—doubt and inquiry, reflective critique, and reflection on reflection— referred to as the “hierarchy of problem consciousness”. The article particularly focuses on the “questioning” aspect, outlining various modes of questioning, with authentic questioning being the most profound. Next, based on the “ hierarchy of problem consciousness ”, the paper analyzes the opposite views on “AI and employment”, concluding that different scholars lack different layers of problem consciousness. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of adhering to “I think, speak, do, therefore I am” and “ solving” problems through actions. The awareness of prevention is also crucial. However, due to cognitive limitations, people??s “ prevention ” awareness is lacking and difficult to enrich, so problems are inevitable.
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  The Conversion of Emotional Capital in the Digital Economy: A Temporal Dynamics Study of Affective Interactions in Live Streaming

  Zhang Yongxue

  Journal of Intelligent Society. 2025, 4(1): 111-131.

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  This study employs image recognition and micro-expression recognition technologies to digitize live streaming interactions, combined with panel vector autoregressive ( PVAR) modeling of real-time audience engagement metrics. The research reveals the complex temporal dynamics underlying the conversion of emotional capital in live streaming ecosystems. Key findings indicate that emotional intensity—rather than valence—plays the most significant role in driving engagement. While hosts?? positive emotional expressions demonstrate stable audience retention effects, negative expressions generate transient interaction spikes followed by compensatory attrition. The study makes dual contributions: 1 ) it empirically validates the crucial role of emotional capital in the intelligent era, and 2) demonstrates the methodological potential of computational social science paradigms in analyzing emergent digital interaction patterns.
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  Smart Wearables and Subjective Well-Being among Chinese Older Adults

  Zhang Yueyun, Jiang Meng, Liu Jiankun

  Journal of Intelligent Society. 2025, 4(1): 132-151.

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  Based on the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey data from 2018 and 2020, this study explores the impact of smart wearables on the subjective well-being ( includes life satisfaction and depressive symptoms ) of China??s elderly population, and examines gender differences. The elderly respondents were divided into four groups: never users, discontinued users, new users, and continuous users. The results show that: (1) Compared to never users, discontinued users experience a significant decrease in life satisfaction and an increase in depressive symptoms, while new users show improved life satisfaction; ( 2 ) Compared to continuous users, discontinued users have lower life satisfaction and more severe depressive symptoms; ( 3 ) The heterogeneity analysis shows that the decrease in subjective well-being among discontinued users is similar for both male and female elderly adults, while the increase in life satisfaction among new users is more pronounced in females than in males. Against the backdrop of an aging population and increasing social digitalization, this study provides reliable empirical support for China??s continuous development of intelligent services tailored to older adults.
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  The Rise of the Intelligent Social Science Paradigm: Technical Principles, Knowledge Logic, and Application Paths

  Wang Zhenyu, Yang Xi, Zhang Runze

  Journal of Intelligent Society. 2025, 4(1): 152-176.

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  The rapid development of generative artificial intelligence is driving a paradigm shift in social sciences research. A new fifth paradigm, Intelligent Social Science (ISS) paradigm, is emerging, which is based on social science theories and empirical knowledge and treats the generated data from “ large models + AI agents ” as meaningful factual data for research. Technologically, this new paradigm is based on two major breakthroughs in generative AI: the “machine learning revolution ” represented by large models, which moves from “ pattern recognition” to “world simulation”; and the “ germ of general artificial intelligence” driven by AI Agents, where LLMs powered intelligent agents evolve from solving “ specific tasks” to tackling “general problems”. Logically, this paradigm deeply integrates and empowers the four traditional paradigms: quantitative, qualitative, social simulation, and big data. It overcomes the fragmentation, bias, and access barriers of traditional data through AI-generated data and expands the factual space for knowledge discovery through theory-guided interactive mechanisms. In application, precise simulation of universal social systems can be achieved by constructing intelligent social models representing various human actors and social structures, revealing the emergence laws of complex social phenomena; and the general implementation of scientific discovery empowers the entire “ scientific cycle” process, from literature review, hypothesis generation, data collection and analysis to theory test and discovery, significantly enhancing the efficiency of social science research.
ACADEMIC FRONTIERS AND CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
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  From Network Society to Digital Society: A Review of Manuel Castells’ Advanced#br# Introduction to Digital Society#br#

  Wang Liqiu

  Journal of Intelligent Society. 2025, 4(1): 177-181.

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  In Advanced Introduction to Digital Society, the latest publication by Manuel Castells, the pioneering theorist of network society future develops his theory in the digital age and clarify the relationship between network society and digital society: the digital society is the socio?technological form that underlies the coming age of the network society while, in turn, being shaped by the dynamics of the network society. Through extensive empirical research, the book examines patterns emerging in the digital era, including mass self-communication, sociality 3. 0, the surveillance state and informational capitalism, the digitalization of financial market, networked social movements, etc. Against the technological determinism, Castells emphasizes that the effects of the digital society, in its wide array of new technologies, on humans and nature depend on who uses each technology and for what it is used. In front of a new world brought by the digital society and ultimately shaped by the network society, the intellectual project underlying this book is an attempt to move from disinformed bewilderment to informed consciousness of our new human experience.
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  Text Mining for Social Science: The State & the Future of Computational Text Analysis in Sociology

  written by Ana Macanovic; trans. by Zhu Fengxia

  Journal of Intelligent Society. 2025, 4(1): 182-216.

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  The emergence of big data and computational tools has introduced new possibilities for using large-scale textual sources in sociological research. Recent work in sociology of culture, science, and economic sociology has shown how computational text analysis can be used in theory building and testing. This review starts with an introduction of the history of computer-assisted text analysis in sociology and then proceeds to discuss five families of computational methods used in contemporary research. Using exemplary studies, it shows how dictionary methods, semantic and network analysis tools, language models, unsupervised, and supervised machine learning can assist sociologists with different analytical tasks. After presenting recent methodological developments, this review summarizes several important implications of using large datasets and computational methods to infer complex meaning in texts. Finally, it calls researchers from different methodological traditions to adopt text mining tools while remaining mindful of lessons learned from working with conventional data and methods.
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  The Technological Dimension and Social Transformation: Academic Reflections on the Intelligent Society and Pathways for Journal Development—A Review of the 2025 Journal of Intelligent Society High-Quality Development Symposium

  Wang Yuzi

  Journal of Intelligent Society. 2025, 4(1): 217-238.

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