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PHD-DESIGN  August 2012

PHD-DESIGN August 2012

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Subject:

Re: Activity Theory and ANT and computers are capable of design?

From:

Punya Mishra <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 10:21:35 -0400

Content-Type:

text/plain

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text/plain (62 lines)

Thanks Ken for the clarification and I agree totally, particularly with 
the skepticism with regard to ascribing agency to designed things.

That said, I would like to point to two ways in which the issue of 
agency gets complicated.

The first has to do with artifacts today that increasingly take on roles 
that in the past we would never have imagined non-human actors being 
able to do. This partly has to do with the increasing complexity of 
tasks that software can now take on (think decisions being taken in 
buying and selling stock) - at speeds and computational intensity beyond 
human capabilities. Apart from complexity there is also the 
sophistication that programs increasingly have (think Google's 
self-driving car). Though I agree that we could (should?) "describe this 
as the unintended consequences of the designers who design those 
designed things. The designers remain responsible." I wonder if Google 
would be liable if there were an car accident. Consider also the 
evolutionary development of software - where humans are responsible for 
setting the initial conditions but the final output is the result of 
"mutation,""competition" and "selection."Who is the designer?

The key idea being that the distance between the tools and the humans 
designing them are getting severed in ways that have the potential to 
undermine the directness of the relationship between agency of the 
designer and the final artifact.

The second issue is, to my mind, even more interesting.  It has to do 
with people's perception of agency - particularly with interactive 
objects. Reeves and Nass (and others) have demonstrated that in many 
cases people respond to interactive artifacts as if they were actual 
humans. They are polite them, relate to them as team-mates, etc. etc. 
There are a variety of reasons for this - and those interested can read 
my take on this below. The article is a bit dated but still relevant.

Mishra, P., Nicholson, M., & Wojcikiewicz, S. (2001/2003). Does my 
wordprocessor have a personality? Topffer’s Law and Educational 
Technology. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy . 44 (7), 634-641. 
Reprinted in B. C. Bruce (Ed.). Literacy in the information age: 
Inquiries into meaning making with new technologies . (pp. 116-127). 
Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
http://punya.educ.msu.edu/2008/04/30/mishra-nicholson-wojcikiewicz-20012003/

The point here is that perception agency is at some level a 
psychological phenomena, based on attributes of interaction, use of 
language etc. that tap into our social brain.

Combine the points 1 and 2, above, and we get quite an interesting 
scenario for thinking about the issue of agency and our interaction with 
technological artifacts. I don't think it undermines in any way the 
argument Ken is making, nor does it make a case for the "strong agency" 
argument from ANT - but it does point to the fact that these are issues 
that are evolving - and as scholars, designers (and users) of these 
tools - it is important for us to recognize these shifts.

Thanks
~ punya

--------------------------------------
Punya Mishra 
Web: http://punyamishra.com
Blog: http://punya.educ.msu.edu/blog/

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