Non human voices in the technological network

Thanks to my classmates Susanne and Val  for your posts on Cyborg Feminism.  It’s not just about the different ways that male and female cyborgs are popularly portrayed, it is the general questioning of power structures outside of male and female. Val linked to an article (Feminism and Cyberculture) which said “information technology often presents itself to us as potentially liberating when in fact our actual interactions with it often reinforce conventional social structures of domination”.

Carl Silvio Refiguring the Radical Cyborg in Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell

 

Dr Glabau’s you tube talk linked from Susanne’s post then spoke about the actor network theory where it’s not just humans in a technological system but also non human laborers, who contribute example animals in the food chain. Some animals are doing the work, some enjoying the technology, some exploited in that network.  One of the questions cyborg feminism asks is who is creating these technologies, to what end, who is receiving opportunity or repression? Dr Glabau asks us to consider where are the voices of all beings represented in the network so that every voice is heard in designing technologies for the future. The motivation for implementing technology shouldn’t be just instrumental and economic. It’s not that straightforward.

AdriVivio has shared a tweet

#mscedc Vertical Farming: growing food on tiered racks in a controlled, climate-proof environment, using robotic arms. An important use of machine learning and use of AI for our community development, sustainable use of resources, very little water and space used  etc
https://t.co/9H5iAkiCph

 

Doctor bots with access to a global patient index

The title of the video is humans need not apply;  this video is a review on how Mechanical minds will push humans out of the economy. Currently we have no plans in place for when when large sections of the population cannot get employment. How dystopian do we want it to get?

Instead of accepting a future where the digital devices ‘define and govern how people use them, termed ‘technological determinism’ (Dahlberg 2004 as quoted by Knox2015)’, we could find a way of coexisting so that every human can maintain a sense of purpose and leave a legacy built on life’s work and passion; it is part of what it means to be human.

Dahlberg, L (2004). Internet Research Tracings: Towards Non-Reductionist Methodology. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 9/3., as  quoted by Knox, J (2015) chapter1.  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2004.tb00289.x/full