Webliography

Webliography

Guiding question: ‘The machine/organism relationships are obsolete, unnecessary’ writes Haraway. In what ways have our relations to machines been theorised.

1. Socially intelligent robots: dimensions of human–robot interaction

This article differs from the others as it is focusing on robots and humans relationships with them. Under the title the author’s name, education and university attended is shown, so the reader knows that the author is educated and that this source will be reliable for a research essay. The article is from a science journal, published online in 2007, so it is a fairly recent document and being a science article is contains lots of theories and analysis. The article focuses on robots, human robot interaction, research, the social relationships between humans and robots and the reasons behind this. The source would be useful to use for the essay question as it focuses on machine and human relationships and supports my argument that human/machine relations are not unnecessary or obsolete. The article is specific and has strong arguments, is informative on robot-human relationships and also is critical and analytical providing reason. At the end of the article there are 3 pages of references, so the reader can then find out more information about the topics and issues presented in the text. Overall this article will be very useful for the essay question because it is specific however focuses on what will need to be discussed in the essay.

2. Human-machine reconfigurations: plans and situated actions

In the first few sentences of the introduction Suchman states “As our relations with machines elaborate and intensify questions of the human like capacities of machines, and machine like attributes of humans arise”. This source is useful as it provides a lot of information on the similarities between humans and machines and provides examples of case studies which explore human/machine interaction. In terms of interaction, Suchman states that we are yet to realize the creation of an interactive machine, and at this stage machines do not have the interaction humans have with one another. Being a book, this text is reliable as it is published and the author is educated and provides evidence to support her ideas and discusses views of other researchers. The text is quite critical and has a strong sense of argument, so it is useful as a scholarly source because the ideas that are presented will support my argument that machine/organism relationships are not obsolete or unnecessary. The aim of the book is “to rethink the intricate, and increasingly intimate, configurations of the human and the machine”, which relates to the essay questions subject matter. The text was published in 2007, so it is fairly new, and will be up to date with the issues that are circulating society in relation to humans and machines. It is published by Cambridge University press which tells me that it is a book that will be reliable in my research because it is published by a successful publisher.

3. Cyborgs and Space

This article focuses on space travel and the idea of adapting man to his environment. It is not directly focused on human’s relations to machines however it has some useful examples and ideas that can be discussed in the essay. It talks about the cyborgs and how they will enable men to achieve things they may not normally be able to achieve, as well as enhancing bodily functions. It is stated the purpose of a cyborgs is “ to provide an organisational system in which such robot- like problems are taken care of automatically and unconsciously, leaving man free to explore, to create, to think and to feel”. There is an argument that supports human’s relations to machines in relation to the way machines will make space travel easier. This source is an article that was released in September 1960. It is interesting because the ideas of human/machine relations were being put forward 50 years ago, so it is useful in providing a sense of history and context for the essay. At the beginning of the article there is a photograph of the two authors and a small paragraph on their education and achievements. The two authors have a high education level and are successful so this gives the article credibility and authenticity, making it a reliable source to use in a research essay. The article is on “Scribd” which is a website that consists of articles and books, so the intention of the site is to provide access to articles and sources, for research purposes. Overall this source is relevant and reliable; it is useful in providing examples and views towards cyborgs and human’s relations to machines.

4. Visions: how science will revolutionize the twenty-first century

In contrast from the “Cyborgs and Space” article, this source is a book from Google books, so it is a reliable source primarily due to the fact it is a published book, the author is educated and did scientific research which is shown by an extensive list of scientists that are thanked at the start of the book. The chapter of most use for the essay is chapter 4 ‘Machines that think’. The book makes a lot of predictions for the future, in terms of technology and society. Chapter 4 focuses on the development of machines and how “they will learn from their constant interaction with humans”. In the chapter machines seems to be personified, and connected with humans, so the ideas and issues are relevant to the essay question. The book would be useful because it focuses on machines and their features, the possibilities for the future, and scientist’s arguments and views towards machines and humans. The predictions and information support my argument that machine/organism relationships are not obsolete or unnecessary because the book talks about the impact machines and technologies have on our lives in present and future societies. The book was published by Oxford University press in Great Britain, so as a researcher I know that the material is reliable due to Oxfords great reputation.

5. The role of voice input for human-machine communication

This article offers a different perspective on human-machine relationships, discussing the role of voice in the interaction between humans and machines communication. The article “aims to identify applications for which spoken interaction is advantageous”, and discusses why verbal communication between computers and humans would be beneficial and goes into detail about this. The article begins by stating “Optimism is growing that the near future will witness rapid growth in human computer interaction using voice”. The human-machine relations have been theorised to be established by verbal communication. This argument is useful and the examples and evidence used in this article will be useful for the essay as it will support the argument. The article comes from a science journal, consisting of facts, statistics, and analysis towards the topic; it is a researched article containing 2 pages of references at the end of the article. At the beginning of the text the authors workplace is mentioned and it seems to be high up and a place of education, so this gives the authors credibility. The article is suitable for research work as it has a strong argument and engages with the subject rather than describing it. The text was published in the journal in October 1995 however the article is a condensed version of a text that was presented in 1993 by another author. Despite it being a 15 year old article it still is useful for the essay as it engages with the essay question and contains information that will support the argument.

Webliography

If science fiction is a genre that imagines our future, what happens to gender and race? (you can apply this question to literary or cinematic sf)

1. Bernardi, D 1998, Star Trek and History – Race-ing Toward a White Future, Rutgers University Press, New Jersey, USA.

This particular source is from the book Star Trek and History: Race-ing Towards a White Future, located on the internet through the Google Books search engine. It discusses how one of the most prominent Science-Fiction movie franchises, Star Trek, is influenced and affected by race. In particular how “Trek” is an enduring icon in United States popular culture – yet it shows not a divine ‘race-free culture’, as many fans of the show believe, but stereotypical articulations of race – “…darkening up an alien species in order to make them seem more ominous and threatening. Many evil aliens in Trek are dark" (Bernardi 1998, p12)The source was created in 1998, in New Jersey USA, at the height of the Star Trek craze. Subsequently it reflects an American perspective of the series – perpetuating American race stereotypes as opposed to universal or Australian ones. As Star Trek is a product of the USA this American perspective takes an honest look and how the series was intended to be seen and how it instead perpetuates American racial stereotypes.

The book was written by Daniel Bernardi, and published by Rutgers University Press. The site, Google books, was created by Google. I originally searched through Google scholar, as I did for much of the other sources in this paper, and was directed to this site. As for the book itself, it has a list of sources in the beginning for the illustrations in the book. It also has an acknowledgements section which pays tribute to the scholars that he took inspiration from. Throughout the book, whenever work or ideas are quoted, they are referenced. This allows further research and verification of the information that is given.

For the research task I would say that overall it is not the best quality information that could be acquired, however it bares great relevance to the question and to a specific subtopic of the question. As I have previously specified, the information originates from America and is highly relevant to a discussion on Star Trek, but perhaps not on a conversation of universal race in science fiction. The problem I encountered with this publication is that Google books often do not put the entire source online and, in this case in particular, hundreds of pages are omitted making it very difficult to examine the source thoroughly.

2. Ferguson, K, Ashkenazi, G & Schultz, W 1997, Political Science Fiction, University of South Carolina Press, USA.

This resource is another book obtained from Google Books, an option through the Google search engine. The book is Political Science Fiction, of which I am only referring to one chapter, entitled Gender Identity in Star Trek. Published in South Carolina, USA, in 1997, this text is yet again based on an American point of view. This is as the majority of books on Google. This publication uses a large spectrum of scholars to examine the relationship between politics and science fiction. The specific chapter that I am referring to discusses how, in Star Trek, Gender Identity changes from being conventional gender identities in the beginning – to changing in the sequel (The Next Generation). This shift reflects perhaps years of feminism or post-modern ideas surround altering categories of identity. This resource raises interesting questions about how the stereotype of femininity – irrational and emotional – is reflected through science fiction, and how power is legitimized by a character's maleness.

The book is made available online by Google Books. There are many authors for each chapter, all edited by Donald M. Hassler and Clyde Wilcox. The Gender Identity in Stark Trek chapter that I am referring too was contributed to by Kathy E. Ferguson, Gilad Ashkenazi and Wendy Schultz. The editors are attributed to being professors of science fiction in the beginning of the book – however the writers of this chapter are briefly mentioned in the introduction, but not much is said about their scholarly authority. The end of the chapter is very well referenced, a list of sources allows further assessment of the arguments presented.

The material is fairly well referenced however it is not the highest standard of scholarly resource that could be obtained, however it provides current pop-culture information and references about gender relations in the Star Trek phenomenon. Overall the book provides useful information, in the form of a series of essays, about the politics surrounding science fiction (an interpretation of life in the future). This book could only have been uncovered through the internet and although some pages are omitted – the chapter that I am most interested in is there. In a library I would have been overwhelmed with irrelevant books, unable to find specific chapters. Google Books allows a search of every relevant word in the book – allowing the most important information to be found first.

3. Mitchell, K, 2006, 'Bodies that Matter: Science Fiction, Technoculture and Gendered Body', Journal of Science Fiction Studies, vol. 33 no. 1, pp. 109-128.

This journal article offers an interesting scholarly perspective on the use of Femininity in science fiction. It evaluates how SF can "reformulate the social and cultural meanings of the gendered body" (Mitchell 2006, p126). The source was obtained of the JSTOR database, from the UWA Supersearch search engine. It is highly relevant to the topic and the ideas, although some complex, should be thoroughly referenced in an essay on this question. It originates from the journal of Science Fiction Studies and subsequently is of high credibility and has high relevance to the topic at hand. The whole volume, Bodies That Matter: Science Fiction, Technoculture, and the Gendered Body, was published in 2006, volume 33 of a series, and the article of most interest to me is Bodies that Matter: Science Fiction, Technoculture and Gendered Body (Mitchell 2006, pp109-128). It is thus extremely relevant, being only 4 years old, and provides and educated scholarly assessment on the issue of gender in science fiction.

The intention of the site that this article is obtained from, JSTOR, is "part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization helping the academic community use digital technologies…". (Provided in the footer on the JSTOR website). The Author of this article, Kaye Mitchell, is not verified as being an academic of any source, however all sources that are utilized are referenced thoroughly at the end of the article.

This material provides an academic view of gender representation in the science fiction genre. It provides a multitude of relevant sources, and for a university level research essay – it provides comprehensive quotes and examples. The short time that it takes to search for this article online is much more comprehensive than looking through a hardcopy of this enormous journal, only to locate this one article. The JSTOR database, when searched correctly, offers relevant and informative resources needed for research at a university level.

4. Feasey, R 2008, Masculinity and Popular Television, Edinburgh University Press, UK.

This is again an electronic copy of a book, made available on the internet by Google Books. The source, Masculinity and Popular Television, evaluates the representation of masculinities in a wide rang of popular television genres – in particular science fiction. It focuses on a range of science fiction cinematic portrayals of masculinity – for example Farscape and Star Trek – and assesses how many SF portrayals of men combine feminine traits of sensitivity and openness – with supposedly masculine qualities of power, strength and bravery. This resource was first published in 2008, highly relevant to today's perception of masculinity. It was published in Britain, offering a different perspective from the other American sources that I have discusses.

The site is run by Google, and this link was discovered through a search of the Google Scholar search engine. Although Google books usually omits many pages from these online books – all the relevant pages are accessible in this instance. The author, Rebecca Feasey, is responsible for all the work in the publication. She references whatever work is not hers using in-text referencing, however Google Books has omitted any pages that may have had a list of sources – making it difficult to verify the information available.

I found that some, not all, of the information is relevant to the research task. Predominantly the chapter entitled Science Fiction and Fantasy Television: Challenging Dominant Gender Roles. It provides an interesting perspective on how science fiction depicts the changing role and value of masculinity in society. It provides good examples for the research task, and I would say parts of it would allow a good quality analysis that is desired at university level. However you would have to narrow down and be specific about which information that you use as much of the chapters are irrelevant to science fiction. You could probably find this book in a library but it would be time consuming to find the relevant chapter.

5. Nama, A 2008, Black Space - Imagining Race in Science Fiction Film, University of Texas Press, USA.

My final resource, was by far the most relevant to the question. Entitled Black Space – Imagining Race in Sci Fi Film this book discusses white supremacy in American Science Fiction Cinema, "a structured absence of blackness has historically been a signature feature of the genre" (Nama 2008, p10). The material in this book is pretty controversial and not entirely academic, however it gives pertinent examples of how people feel their races are represented in science fiction. For example, one quote in the book is 'They had a movie of the future called Logan's run. Ain't no niggers in it. I said, "well white folks ain't planning for us to be here"' (Nama 2008, p10). The book was published in Texas, USA, and gives predominantly an oversight on American racism. This is quite a skewed view but is relevant since the majority of SF films are produced in the US. Published in 2008 it is very relevant to analyse today's science fiction popular culture.

Google owns the site – allowing people to browse books without buying them or hiring them from a library. It displays an important use of the internet – being able to share information across the word. The problem, as I have discussed previously in this paper, surround many pages being omitted by Google. It is rare to find a book with a 'full preview' on this website. The author of this book, Adilifu Nama, utilizes the professional opinion of professors of sociology, as well as quotes from the public regarding their interpretation of race in the science fiction genre. In the Acknowledgement section he gives thanks to many scholars, which leads to the assumption that he is a professor of some sort who has been researching the topic. Most of the works cited are referenced however part of the reference list has been omitted by Google, making it difficult for one to verify the work.

This material is perhaps the least scholarly of all resources that I have referred to, however it is the most relevant to the question on perceptions of race in the science fiction genre. It is relevant, as stated above, to most SF films as it was published in the USA, however it discusses race specific to America, and not on a global level. Just like most of the sources available on Google Books, it would be difficult to locate this book in a library in Australia. However if it is located – a hard copy of the book would be preferable as no information would be omitted.

Behold the power of the internets!

Sup.

Topic chosen: Qn. 1: ‘Why should out bodies end at the skin?’ asks Donna Haraway. Discuss the idea of skin in relation to how we might imagine our future embodiment.

1. Davis, A., 2010, Skin Replacement,

This article is an adaptation of a larger article written by Davis. The site is of American base and claims to be an online medical library for seniors and caregivers. It was created by FamilyCare America Inc., is open to the public and provides free articles and exterior links. The specific article I chose is appropriate for pre-liminal research and thought regarding the topic of skin. I wanted to have an article that explored the necessity of replacing skin from a medical viewpoint. It also discusses the development of artificial skin for use predominantly by burn victims but can still be linked to support the idea of the necessity of skin for identity purposes.

2. Smith, W., 2004, Science Fiction and Organisation

This is a Google books preview but in the short pages that are released gives insight to the human vs. other identity and how it is dealt with in the mass media machine Star Trek (through it’s invention of the Borg). Google books is yet another facet of the ever popular Google corporation. Google books is a highly reliable scholarly resource as it is a search engine where the user has access to (probably) millions of actual books that have been scanned and made available online. So it’s not a case of whether the source is true or false because it is an electronic copy of the original article. However not all books are present. Also, never is there a fully published piece but the content that is published is usually sufficient for usage. This particular source is relevant because it discusses future human development. The Borg (an example of which is heavily relied) are a creature that ‘assimilate’ humans. Though they achieve long life -a much sought after human dream- it is at the price of their autonomy, self and privacy. This imagining of future human bodies is completely juxtaposed to ‘humanism’ and what it means to be human. The book goes onto other examples of ‘others’ exploring how we define ourselves as human from ‘other’. This example is not one that could be heavily relied on, as it is only the Google preview however if it was in the library I figure it would be more useful.

3. Skirry, J., 2008 Sep 13, René Descartes (1596—1650): Overview

This might seem like an odd reference for an essay on skin but I want to include Descartes because he talks about what it means to be human. Specifically his “cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am) and the mind-body problem are of interest to me. “Cogito, ergo sum” addresses the philosophy of existence, however not the reasoning of, but the actuality of existence. With this I am reminded of the matrix where, even though people thought they were being autonomous they were being controlled by exterior forces and did not really exist in that world. The line “the body is an entirely material thing without any thinking in it at all” caught my attention as it objectifies the body consequently separating it from the mind. With such ideas from Descartes, could you argue that you need not have skin/body to ‘exist’ or to be considered human? Does skin becomes irrelevant as our ‘body’ can travel past the corporeal expressing itself through modern media such as the Internet? Is this idea demonstrated more proficiently now than any other time due to the technologically eased separation of body and mind? The site from which I am sourcing this article is called the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy and looks to be a stable environment from which to draw concrete and sincere information. I base this on the fact that this article references its author, their email and the university that published the material. It also claims to be a peer reviewed academic site.

4. Boellstorff, T., 2010, Coming of Age in Second Life

Another Google books find, this is an ethnographical text by Tom Boellstorff who engaged with the second life community for over two years. Because it is centred around 2^nd life it is a great source for contemporary expression and posthuman example. Though Boellstorffs writes about his encounters in great length, I found a useful section on ‘skin’. It doesn’t exactly match Donna Haraways discussion of skin as is stated in the question but it addresses the power of racial choice. You create your avatar from the ground up and as such are able to choose whichever race you wish. Second Life is also a great example of future embodiment. You’re able to create a whole new life online meeting new people without the constraints of the body (space, time, etc.).

5. Hayles, N K., 1999, How We Became Posthuman: Virtual bodies in cybernetics,literature and informatics

Yet another source pinched from Google books. This resource would be so much better if I could find the actual book as it links quite nicely with the whole unit and not just this specific topic. This book is definitely one that would be heavily relied on in writing this essay. Hayles discusses posthumanism in great length and delivers it with such delicious and inspiring eloquence. One line that I find particularly thought provoking: “The posthuman view privileges informational pattern over material instantiation, so that embodiment in a biological substrate is seen as an accident of history rather tan an inevitability of life”. Hayles uses examples such as Robocop and the six million dollar man to elucidate the bond between human and machine. Her writing style though at first glance may seem almost deliberately obtuse or convoluted is in actuality supremely intelligent and precise so it’s meaning is strict and clear.

(This assign proved harder than I thought it would be b/c we couldn't use the j.articles @__@ )

Em.

Critical Annotated Bibliography

Topic Question: Haraway’s ‘Manifesto’ is a political text generated from socialist feminism of the 1980s. In what ways have feminists taken up her radical ideas since then?

• Reading Cyborgs, Writing Feminism.
  Anne Balsamo is considered a contemporary of Donna Haraway, and therefore her essay is of great value to me in determining how the ideas of cyborgs and embodiment have been interpreted and developed in more recent years. Balsamo examines cultural images of cyborgs in modern film and literature and argues that although they tend to reconstruct gender stereotypes, female-gendered cyborgs do more to challenge the opposition between human and body because of the greater perceived difference between femininity and technology. For Balsamo, the cyborg image has two fundamental uses for feminist scholarship: the deconstruction of subjectivity and the questioning of the naturalness of the body and its use as a marker of difference. Ultimately, Balsamo is using ideas in Haraway’s work in her attempt to reclaim the image of a cyborg as a tool for the possible reconstruction of a feminist identity which embraces difference rather than exploiting it.
  
  
• Cyborg Futures: Cyborgs, Cyberpunk and the future of the body.
  In his article Daniel Pimley links Haraway’s idea of deconstructing gender boundaries to Gibson’s Cyberpunk, which proposes the disintegration of internal and external boundaries through connecting to cyberspace. In cyberspace, the mind leaves the body and is able to open itself to an infinite network and flow of data thereby becoming a cyborg. Pimley makes many connections between Haraway’s ideas and that of the more recent Cyberpunk, which discovers freedom in abandoning the body. Both theories see biology and technology as forces unable to co-exist – for Cyberpunk, this means discarding the body in order to populate the increasingly technological world. Pimley also discusses some modern films and texts which see a future where biology and technology converge; however, he notes that the ungendered ideal posited by Haraway is hard or even impossible to reach, as although we may abandon bodies in the technological world, gender is fused to identity and is therefore more difficult to discard. Consequently Pimley warns of the dangers attached to further integration with technology while frustrations about our biology remain unresolved. In discussing these issues, Pimley’s article brings to light some notions that have arisen out of Haraway’s ideas.
  
  
• Girls Need Modems!
  This article is relevant to my topic in that it explores the ways in which gender and cyberspace connect and apply these to online magazines or ‘eZines.’ Scott argues that women who participate in or write for eZines are Haraway’s definition of cyborgs because of their interface with a computer. Of particular interest is section 2.07 entitled “Cyborgs in Cyberspace,” in which Scott explores Haraway’s cyborg as tool for playing with identity as well as a powerful concept for feminist action. Scott argues that Haraway’s cyborg is the most useful icon for exploring feminist eZines because eZines represent a network of feminists in cyberspace, who learn to use and control technology to achieve political ends. The cyborg is analogous to eZines in that they both allow for a convergence of conflicting ideas, theories, political strategies, and identities which free women from stereotypical categories of “Us” and “Them” and facilitate new kinds of political resistance. Therefore eZines act as a connecting point and network for women who otherwise would not have met, allowing space for contradiction and paradox that are important for actual political strategy and actions.
  
  
• Imagined Bodies, Imagined Communities.
  This second article by Krista Scott is an excellent resource for exploring some more recent ideas that have risen out of Haraway’s “Cyborg Manifesto.” In “Imagined Bodies, Imagined Communities,” Scott critically engages with Haraway’s work as well as that of her contemporaries in a discussion involving issues of nationalism, identity and community. Specifically, she uses the metaphor of a cyborg as a new way of discussing and conceptualising national identities and political subjects, connecting the cyborg power of partial components and fragments coming together to the production of national identity through conflicting values, meanings, priorities, and histories. Furthermore, Scott explores the importance of the cyborg in contemporary theories dealing with postcolonial identities and the nation state, incorporating the arguments of Sandoval, Gabilondo, and Gray and Mentor and showing how they have taken up Haraway’s ideas and developed them. Scott argues that the cyborg as a theory and methodology opens the door to new ways of conceptualising and imagining bodies and communities, which in turn affects how they are experienced.
  
  
• He, She or It: The Cyborg De-Constructs Gender in Post Modern Science Fiction.
  In her article Barbara Summerhawk shows how the postmodern image of the cyborg is used in modern science fiction literature to question and even redefine our notions of masculinity and femininity. The author suggests that Haraway’s notion of the cyborg has created a culture with shifting and impermanent identities which opens the door to experiencing new ways of being. Similar to the works of Balsamo and Pimley, Summerhawk notes that in today’s cybernetic world the distinctions between human and machine, physical and non-physical are becoming blurred. Summerhawk argues that modern fiction uses this notion to deconstruct traditional notions of gender and intelligence. Furthermore Summerhawk notes that it is up to us to reshape our identities and take hold of the emergence of infinite possibilities to reconstruct our identities, realities and mythologies, as do the writers of postmodern science fiction. For Summerhawk, Haraway’s ideas have opened the door to sharing with artificial life new ways of experiencing being rather than submitting to the hegemonic, narrow, and traditional definitions of possibilities based on race, class, and gender.

References

Balsamo, Anne, “Reading Cyborgs Writing Feminism,” in The Gendered Cyborg: a Reader, ed. Gill Kirkup, (London: Routeledge, 2000), pp.148-158, http://www.yorku.ca/jjenson/gradcourse/Balsamo_Reading.pdf (accessed 8 September 2010).

Pimley, Daniel, “Cyborg Futures: Cyborgs, Cyberpunk and the future of the body,” (2003) http://www.pimley.net/documents/cyborgfutures.pdf (accessed 8 September 2010).

Scott, Krista, “Girls Need Modems!” The Feminist eZine, (January 1998) http://www.feministezine.com/feminist/education/Girls-Need-Modems.html (accessed 8 September 2010).

Scott, Krista, “Imagined Bodies, Imagined Communities,” The Feminist eZine, (1999) http://www.feministezine.com/feminist/modern/Imagined-Bodies-Imagined-Communities.html (accessed 8 September 2010).

Summerhawk, Barbara, “He, She or It: The Cyborg De-Constructs Gender in Post Modern Science Fiction,” (July 1998) http://www.davidmswitzer.com/slonczewski/summerhawk.html (accessed 8 September 2010).

In response to question three:

1) The competence between humans and machines:

This reading argues that one of the greatest myths of our modern ecosystem is the myth of competence between humans, as humans now compete against machines for jobs, instead of themselves. However, this is an extremely unfair advantage as men don’t evolve, but machines consistently do, which increases the productivity of companies. Competence and productivity is no longer human nor to improve mankind, which is why unemployment worldwide continues to rise, as machines of energy or information works better. People now compete for the minimal supply of jobs that machines can’t yet do. The introduction of the Chip can now perform higher intellectual tasks of man, which not only replaces the average worker, but also managerial jobs. It is the most complex machine, which substitutes our brain, the more complex organ. When man and machine work together there is actually a negative outcome because when we consume machines we are not permanently attached to them as organs of energy or information. When we consume them we atrophy our organs, and substitute them by organic machines, and the new organ takes over. In conclusion, as the use of machines grows, the more humans atrophy and diminish their intelligence, as machines do the jobs for us e.g. calculus, spelling, science etc. Machines extinguish humanity as they evolve, as they make the human mind and body obsolete.

I believe that this reading shares a lot of relevant information about the relationship between humans and machines, however it is an extremely biased argument. It focuses only on how and where machines have damaged humanity physically and environmentally, though it neglects to mention where machines have improved society such as in the medical field, saving millions of lives; and how over time the relationship between humans and machines have slowly diminished, as we become more unified. Although it is true that machines are replacing jobs that man used to perform all over the world, the author should have considered that many governments don’t use all the available machinery, as they’re completely aware of the economical consequences, and that the people would put up a fight, which could lead to an over throw of government; so the likely effect of machines taking over most of the worlds jobs are unlikely. Therefore, I believe there is an issue of biases in this reading, and that not all aspects of the argument were considered, which lessens the quality of reading.

2) Do humanlike machines deserve human rights?

The new Elmo live toy that Fisher-Price have developed is more animated then ever; imitating more human emotions and actions, such as shivering when he gets scared. Being an immediate hit with the children, Elmo was treated as if he were part of their family. The previous Elmo’s were subject to robotic-toy torture, were people would set them on fire, laughing as he writes in a painful death. Because Elmo was given human qualities and lifelike abilities, Daniel felt uncomfortable, even physically sick while watching the incineration of this toy. The cheaper and more commonplace robotics become, the greater the issue is on whether we should care if they are mistreated. Isaac Asimov established his Three Laws of Robotics, which stated robots shouldn’t disobey or hurt humans or themselves, however the more robotics grow and come aware, the tougher it will become to say the technology doesn’t deserve the same protection as animals. If people start caring about robot ethics, might we then go one step further and grant them rights?

3) Robotics Integrated with human body in near future? Technology gulf between ‘have’ and ‘have nots’ predicted by 2020:

During the next 15 years we will see mass hybridization between humans and robots because by then robots will be able to see, act, speak and our relationships with them will have become more constant. Robots will be intelligent machines to be incorporated into both domestic and industrial life, having artificial intelligence that we can have emotional and even intimate interactions. Even sexual robots are being designed to carry out pleasurable personal interactions, equipped with sensorial abilities. Most significantly, robots roles in humans lives physically and social will dramatically increase, as they will be able to insert robots into our bodies, such as intelligent implants in the brain, which will improve our rational thought, and nanorobots to be released into the blood to clean our arteries. Studies have also looked into the repercussions of incorporating robots into society, such as the cultural distinction being drawn between people who can and cannot afford to buy robots, and the effects of unemployment if robots take over the human labour tasks.

A problem that arises in this article is whether or not society would want these robots to play such an intimate role within humanity. Do people truly want an implant in their brains to improve rational thought? And does this prove that machines are atrophying the human mind and body, as we become less able to think for ourselves with machines simply doing it for us. Or does this simply emphasise that we have always been cyborgs, and found the technology to heighten this?

4) Robots created that develop emotions in interaction with humans:

Robots have been developed through modeling the early attachment process that human and chimpanzee infants undergo with their caregivers, in order to learn how to interact and respond to humans in a similar way as children learn how; allowing the robots to form attachments, interact and express emotions through bodily expression. The robot expresses all human emotions such as excitement, anger, pride, and if a caregiver fails to provide comfort when in need or failing to cope in a particular situation, the robot becomes distressed. Therefore the more interaction and engagement given by the human caregiver, the stronger the bond developed and amount learned by the robot. Creators will further adapt the prototype to enable the robots to learn how to be a companion for diabetic children in hospital settings, being combined with non-linguistic and linguist communication to interact with the children and become increasingly adapt to their individual profiles, so they can support the therapeutic, social and emotional wellbeing aspects of the individual children.

An issue that arises in this article is the expanding communication between machines and humans. In order for this robot to be successful, people have to be willing and open to interact with this robot as if it were a human being. If accepted, the lines between robots and humans existence will become blurred and ethical issues of protection and treatment will arise.

5) Human or machine, can you see a difference?:

Since 2002 scientists have been developing a system to detect if an intelligence is machine created or comes from a real human, in order to prevent machine intelligence from using web sites. Bots on the Internet have become so intelligent that they have been able to successfully post online by posting fractions of sentences other people had previously posted in the same context, to make it appear as though the bot was reinforcing statements that appeared natural. One bot once posted 200 posts on a forum, where the humans didn’t even realize they were discussing with a machine. Androids are the next step forward in machine intelligence, so if you imagine 40 years into the future where technology has further increased, it would be more difficult to distinguish a human from machine, and systems may have to be invented, like we already have on the internet today but more advanced, to determine if your human even for a job interview.

assignment

Do we have to only use scholary sources? I have an interview and a webpage that I would really like to use...

Question...

This is probably a stupid question... but are books available online through Google Books appropriate as an online source? A lot of the sources I'm finding are books...

Cheers for any help,

Kate

your departing comments Week 6

• i thought people in my age group who used the internet quite extensively throughout school already held a healthy dose of skepticism about the internet & truth. I was surprised this didn't seem so in the tute
• the possibility that if we dont exist in the cyber world through our digital bodies, we dont exist at all
• freedom of speech & freedom of hate
• why is innocence a default?
• mothers are the "moral guardians", Mothers get blamed for being too overprotective of their children on the net, Mothers get blamed for not being vigilant enough... What exactly are they supposed to do?
• i thought the facebook video at the start of the lecture was really interesting as it shows how online network sites are so different to how we relate in reality
• toilet walls - its like facebook or a chatroom in real life! (anonymous and random. Sometimes funny but don't always believe)
• human base thought is "innocent until proven guilty" why should we question what we see/hear/read?
• social networking sites have changed people's identities and how people interact. But it also enables us to engage with the world - I cant decide if we're better or worse without them
• i still think social networking sites are largely positive, despite some of the drawbacks.
• is it because of Western ideology, that we must have binaries (there is power in binaries) that is why we must know individual genders of people on line?