On the Margins of the Machine: Heteromation and Robotics

Ekbia, Hamid R.; Nardi, Bonnie; Sabanovic, Selma

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/73678 Copy

Description

Title

On the Margins of the Machine: Heteromation and Robotics

Author(s)

• Ekbia, Hamid R.
• Nardi, Bonnie
• Sabanovic, Selma

Issue Date

2015-03-15

Keyword(s)

• social informatics
• human-computer interaction
• information technology and work

Abstract

Growing interest in robotics in policy and professional circles promises a future where machines will perform many of the social and institutional functions that have traditionally belonged to human beings. This promise is based on the unexamined premise that robots can act autonomously, without much support from their human users. Close examination of current social robots, however, introduces a different image, where human labor is critically needed for any meaningful operation of these systems. Such labor is normally unacknowledged and made invisible in media and academic portrayals of robotic systems. We take issue with this erasure, and seek to bring human labor to the fore. Drawing on the concept of “heteromation,” we illustrate the indispensible role of human labor in the functioning of many of the existing technological systems. Given current uncertainties in the robotic design space, we explore various scenarios for the future development of these systems, and the different ways by which they might unfold.

Publisher

iSchools

Series/Report Name or Number

iConference 2015 Proceedings

Type of Resource

text

Language

English

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/73678

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Copyright 2015 is held by the authors. Copyright permissions, when appropriate, must be obtained directly from the authors.

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