I present and discuss discrimination as it surfaces in data from my empirical studies of discrimination in Nordic (Danish) contexts. These are proposed as two ways of articulating particular and opaque forms of structural racial discrimination, which have become normalised in everyday Danish (and other) contexts. In particular, I introduce the concepts of micro-discrimination and benevolent discrimination. It sounded like it was coming from a friend, and that’s exactly what worries me.In this article, I address structural discrimination, an under-represented area of study in Danish research. Perhaps it’s that – more than anything – that threw up the red flags when I got that email from Amazon. I suspect they have put a carefully calculated price on digital friendship. Much as this gang would love us to believe that they only have our best interests in mind – over $1.2 trillion in combined revenue says otherwise. Even more troubling, two of those – Facebook and Google – depend on advertising for their revenue. But Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and the other providers of consumer directed AI companionship are definitely in it for the money. In therapeutic use cases of virtual relationships as outlined up to now, there is no “for-profit” motive. And that’s enough.ĪI companionship seems a benign – even beneficial use of technology – but what might the unintended consequences be? Are we opening ourselves up to potential dangers by depending on AI for our social contact – especially when the lines are blurred between for-profit motives and affirmation we become dependent on. We don’t think a friendship with a robot is weird because we don’t think about it at all, we just feel better. As I’ve said before, they’re all gas and no brakes. These are not pragmatic, cautious parts of our cognitive machinery. It’s been shown that self-affirmation works by activating the reward centers of our brain, the ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. We let our guards down and are more willing to open up.Īlso, I suspect that the building blocks of these relationships are put in place not by the rational, thinking part of our brains but the emotional, feeling part. Virtual assistants are there to serve us, not judge or threaten us. As in the case of the success of a virtual therapist, maybe these relationships work because we can leave the baggage of being human behind. Perhaps it’s the very lack of humanness that is the explanation. In fact, it seems they were deeper and stronger than ever! It surprised me that when our digital friends presented none of these, the bonds still developed. In many cases, these judgements are based on non-verbal cues: body language, micro-expressions, even how people smell. We have highly evolved mechanisms that determine when and with whom we seem to place trust. In reading through these studies, I was amazed at how quickly respondents seemed to bond with their digital allies. The use of these robots is being tested in senior’s care facilities to help combat extreme loneliness. If we go too long without being touched, we experience something called “skin hunger” and start feeling stressed, depressed and anxious. We are social animals and don’t do well when we lose that sociability. Yet another study found that robots can even build a stronger relationship with us by giving us a pat on the hand or touching our shoulder. And expressing a desire to work together and speak with the nurse again.Using close forms of greeting and goodbye.In another study, patients with a virtual nurse ended up creating a strong relationship with it that included: The answer, it turns out, is probably yes.Ī few studies have shown that we will share more with a virtual therapist than a human one in a face-to-face setting. I dug a little further into the question, “Can we depend on technology for friendship, for understanding, even – for love?” And – if that’s true – should I be the one to scoff at it? Maybe their lives are dangling by a thread and it’s Alexa’s soothing voice digitally pumping their tires that keeps them hanging on until tomorrow. My next thought was, maybe I think this is a joke, but there are probably people out there that need this. Poise that question and Alexa responds – “I’m always interested in feedback.”) I realize that the tone of the email likely had tongue at least part way implanted in cheek, but still, seriously – WTF Alexa? (Which, incidentally, Alexa also has covered. “What,” I said to myself, “sorry-assed state is my life in that I need to depend on a little black electronic hockey puck to affirm my self-worth as a human being?” Really, you’re awesome! Did that make you smile? Good. Recently, I received an email from Amazon that began:
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