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University of Central Florida

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Artificial Sociality, Simone Natale, Iliana Depounti Apr 2024

Artificial Sociality, Simone Natale, Iliana Depounti

Human-Machine Communication

This article proposes the notion of Artificial Sociality to describe communicative AI technologies that create the impression of social behavior. Existing tools that activate Artificial Sociality include, among others, Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, voice assistants, virtual influencers, socialbots and companion chatbots such as Replika. The article highlights three key issues that are likely to shape present and future debates about these technologies, as well as design practices and regulation efforts: the modelling of human sociality that foregrounds it, the problem of deception and the issue of control from the part of the users. Ethical, social and cultural …

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The Perturbing Mediatization Of Voice-Based Virtual Assistants: The Case Of Alexa, Leopoldina Fortunati, Autumn P. Edwards, Chad Edwards Apr 2024

The Perturbing Mediatization Of Voice-Based Virtual Assistants: The Case Of Alexa, Leopoldina Fortunati, Autumn P. Edwards, Chad Edwards

Human-Machine Communication

This study examines the role of voice-based assistants (VBAs), specifically Alexa, in the mediatization paradigm framework. The authors hypothesize that emerging technologies such as chatbots and VBAs intensify the process of online meta-reintermediation of news. Three research questions were investigated through a questionnaire administered to 655 university students in the US and Italy: Do participants try to get news from Alexa? Are participants aware that VBAs represent a case of meta-reintermediation of news? Does Alexa contribute to the potential hybridization of news, information, and knowledge? The analysis of 451 open-ended answers showed that only a fraction of participants searches for …

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Communicative Ai And Techno-Semiotic Mediatization: Understanding The Communicative Role Of The Machine, Göran Bolin Apr 2024

Communicative Ai And Techno-Semiotic Mediatization: Understanding The Communicative Role Of The Machine, Göran Bolin

Human-Machine Communication

Mediatization discourse has so far mainly been centered on media from institutional or social-constructionist approaches. The technological developments within communications industries coupled with the wider societal process of datafication might, however, beg for dusting off the smaller, although the long-time existing, technological approach to mediatization as a complement to the two other approaches, in order to understand aspects of automation and human-machine communication. This theoretical article explores how existing mediatization approaches can refocus to include lessons learned from human-machine communication. The first section accounts for the main mediatization approaches. The second section discusses debates on communication, artificiality, and meaning-making. The …

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A New Family Member Or Just Another Digital Interface? Smart Speakers In The Lives Of Families With Young Children, Giovanna Mascheroni Apr 2024

A New Family Member Or Just Another Digital Interface? Smart Speakers In The Lives Of Families With Young Children, Giovanna Mascheroni

Human-Machine Communication

Based on longitudinal qualitative research involving twenty families with at least one child aged eight or younger, the article provides an account of how families, as distinctive communicative figurations, adopt, use and make sense of smart speakers through diverse socially situated practices. Findings show that parents and children enter in a communicative relationship with smart speakers based on their attribution of human-like or machine-like traits to the device, and the device response to their expectations. Moreover, engaging in communicative practices through and with smart speakers, family members subvert or reinforce existing power relations. However, smart speakers acquire new agency by …

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"It Is In Our Dna": Athlete Activism And Social Media Discourse During The 2020 Wnba Season, Kendra Gilbertson Aug 2023

"It Is In Our Dna": Athlete Activism And Social Media Discourse During The 2020 Wnba Season, Kendra Gilbertson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

This dissertation analyzes the athlete activism in the WNBA, the use of social media for activism, and the social media discourse during the 2020 basketball season. I applied Critical Discourse Analysis to a defined set of texts including social media posts from Instagram and Twitter, user comments on social media, news articles from sports and non-sports publications, and a documentary, all related to the activism of the WNBA athletes. I chose the 2020 season because it is an exceptional case study of athlete activism and the use of social media for activism because the season was played in a single …

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Boundary Regulation Processes And Privacy Concerns With (Non-)Use Of Voice-Based Assistants, Jessica Vitak, Priya C. Kumar, Yuting Liao, Michael Zimmer Jul 2023

Boundary Regulation Processes And Privacy Concerns With (Non-)Use Of Voice-Based Assistants, Jessica Vitak, Priya C. Kumar, Yuting Liao, Michael Zimmer

Human-Machine Communication

An exemplar of human-machine communication, voice-based assistants (VBAs) embedded in smartphones and smart speakers simplify everyday tasks while collecting significant data about users and their environment. In recent years, devices using VBAs have continued to add new features and collect more data—in potentially invasive ways. Using Communication Privacy Management theory as a guiding framework, we analyze data from 11 focus groups with 65 US adult VBA users and nonusers. Findings highlight differences in attitudes and concerns toward VBAs broadly and provide insights into how attitudes are influenced by device features. We conclude with considerations for how to address boundary regulation …

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Valenced Media Effects On Robot-Related Attitudes And Mental Models: A Parasocial Contact Approach, Jan-Philipp Stein, Jaime Banks Jul 2023

Valenced Media Effects On Robot-Related Attitudes And Mental Models: A Parasocial Contact Approach, Jan-Philipp Stein, Jaime Banks

Human-Machine Communication

Despite rapid advancements in robotics, most people still only come into contact with robots via mass media. Consequently, robot-related attitudes are often discussed as the result of habituation and cultivation processes, as they unfold during repeated media exposure. In this paper, we introduce parasocial contact theory to this line of research— arguing that it better acknowledges interpersonal and intergroup dynamics found in modern human–robot interactions. Moreover, conceptualizing mediated robot encounters as parasocial contact integrates both qualitative and quantitative aspects into one comprehensive approach. A multi-method experiment offers empirical support for our arguments: Although many elements of participants’ beliefs and attitudes …

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Triggered By Socialbots: Communicative Anthropomorphization Of Bots In Online Conversations, Salla-Maaria Laaksonen, Kaisa Laitinen, Minna Koivula, Tanja Sihvonen Jul 2023

Triggered By Socialbots: Communicative Anthropomorphization Of Bots In Online Conversations, Salla-Maaria Laaksonen, Kaisa Laitinen, Minna Koivula, Tanja Sihvonen

Human-Machine Communication

This article examines communicative anthropomorphization, that is, assigning of humanlike features, of socialbots in communication between humans and bots. Situated in the field of human-machine communication, the article asks how socialbots are devised as anthropomorphized communication companions and explores the ways in which human users anthropomorphize bots through communication. Through an analysis of two datasets of bots interacting with humans on social media, we find that bots are communicatively anthropomorphized by directly addressing them, assigning agency to them, drawing parallels between humans and bots, and assigning emotions and opinions to bots. We suggest that socialbots inherently have anthropomorphized characteristics and …

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Chatgpt, Lamda, And The Hype Around Communicative Ai: The Automation Of Communication As A Field Of Research In Media And Communication Studies, Andreas Hepp, Wiebke Loosen, Stephan Dreyer, Juliane Jarke, Sigrid Kannengießer, Christian Katzenbach, Rainer Malaka, Michaela Pfadenhauer, Cornelius Puschmann, Wolfgang Schulz Jul 2023

Chatgpt, Lamda, And The Hype Around Communicative Ai: The Automation Of Communication As A Field Of Research In Media And Communication Studies, Andreas Hepp, Wiebke Loosen, Stephan Dreyer, Juliane Jarke, Sigrid Kannengießer, Christian Katzenbach, Rainer Malaka, Michaela Pfadenhauer, Cornelius Puschmann, Wolfgang Schulz

Human-Machine Communication

The aim of this article is to more precisely define the field of research on the automation of communication, which is still only vaguely discernible. The central thesis argues that to be able to fully grasp the transformation of the media environment associated with the automation of communication, our view must be broadened from a preoccupation with direct interactions between humans and machines to societal communication. This more widely targeted question asks how the dynamics of societal communication change when communicative artificial intelligence—in short: communicative AI—is integrated into aspects of societal communication. To this end, we recommend an approach that …

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Archipelagic Human-Machine Communication: Building Bridges Amidst Cultivated Ambiguity, Marco Dehnert Jul 2023

Archipelagic Human-Machine Communication: Building Bridges Amidst Cultivated Ambiguity, Marco Dehnert

Human-Machine Communication

In this commentary, I call for maintaining the archipelagic character of human-machine communication (HMC). Utilizing the metaphor of the archipelago or a chain of connected islands indicates that HMC entails a variety of islands differing in shape, size, location, and proximity to one another. Rather than aiming for conceptual unity and definitional homogeneity, I call for embracing a cultivated ambiguity related to HMC key concepts. Ambiguity in the sense of allowing these concepts to be flexible enough to be explored in different contexts. Cultivated in the sense of demanding resonance across individual studies and theoretical lineages to allow for cumulative …

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The Impact Of Student Motivation, Preparation, And Learned Helplessness On Undergraduate Students’ Communication With Advisors, Heather Carmack Jan 2023

The Impact Of Student Motivation, Preparation, And Learned Helplessness On Undergraduate Students’ Communication With Advisors, Heather Carmack

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine communication factors that influence students’ academic advising appointments, including predictors of scheduling future advising appointments. Undergraduate students’ motivation and feelings of learned helplessness were related to their advising meeting preparation and their communication involvement during advising meetings. Students who reported high levels of motivation and low levels of learned helplessness were more likely to prepare for advising meetings and be communicative during meetings. Students with immediate advisors were more likely to communicate with their advisors during meetings. Advising meeting preparation, motivation, and learned helplessness were significant factors in future advising appointments.

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Open, Organized, And Onerous: Understanding And Recognizing The Labors Of Open Science, Nick Bowman, Patric R. Spence, Lindsay Hahn Jan 2023

Open, Organized, And Onerous: Understanding And Recognizing The Labors Of Open Science, Nick Bowman, Patric R. Spence, Lindsay Hahn

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

In the face of high-profile cases of scientific fraud, there has been a renewed call among scholars to reconsider current best practices in academic publishing. Prominent in these discussions is a set of open science practices that ask scholars to “publish more” of their research—not in terms of manuscripts, but in terms of supplemental materials to the scientific enterprise. Through creating, curating, and publishing artifacts such as study materials (experimental stimuli, survey texts, etc.), datasets and analysis code, and other content, the scientific process is made more transparent for readers. However, such practices involve a substantial labor cost to researchers …

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It's In The Design: Student Perceptions Of Intercultural Interactions In Online Communication Classrooms, Darius Lana Jan 2023

It's In The Design: Student Perceptions Of Intercultural Interactions In Online Communication Classrooms, Darius Lana

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

This study identifies how intercultural interaction takes place in online communication courses within higher education. Radically politicized efforts to remove discussion around identity and difference from education and increased enrollment in online courses has raised a concern regarding the degree to which diversity, equity, and inclusion goals are being met in college classrooms generally and online sections specifically. This study identified how current pedagogical content, structure, and delivery of online communication courses may impact intercultural interaction and interaction. Findings indicate a need to address the design of online communication courses to better meet the desired intercultural interaction of the students …

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Researching How Excess Social Media Use And Filters Affect Trust, Ula J. Mccarthy Jan 2023

Researching How Excess Social Media Use And Filters Affect Trust, Ula J. Mccarthy

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In the present day, excessive social media use has become synonymous with the younger generation. Prolonged social media interaction has resulted in new terminology describing the compulsive need for internet and social media use: internet addiction. This is a new term, and while it has not been defined as a clinical addiction used in acute care settings (Zahrai et al., 2022), it is important to understand its symptoms, like excessive social media use. Given the rapid speed of social media integration in modern society, it is important to investigate how excessive social media use (ESMU), as defined by Zahrai et …

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A Pilot Study Of An Immersive Folktale User Experience, Iulia Popescu Jan 2023

A Pilot Study Of An Immersive Folktale User Experience, Iulia Popescu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

Immersive media provides new avenues for preserving and sharing traditional folktales. To keep up with modern generations and continue to cultivate an interest in the arts as well as different cultures, this researcher argues that storytellers need to keep on adapting by conveying stories in new ways. Virtual Reality (VR) offers an interesting medium to present and preserve folktales. The goal of this study is to evaluate the user and learner experience of an immersive digital media application design using a think aloud protocol, surveys, and tests to document what worked and what did not in the design, including if …

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“A Cog In A Wheel That Gets It Done”: A Qualitative Study Of The Experiences Of Faculty Seeking Administrator Support, Lakesha Anderson, Mattea A. Garcia Jan 2023

“A Cog In A Wheel That Gets It Done”: A Qualitative Study Of The Experiences Of Faculty Seeking Administrator Support, Lakesha Anderson, Mattea A. Garcia

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This qualitative study sought to determine the stressors that motivate faculty to seek administrator support and examined faculty experiences of administrator support. Participants were 27 full- and part-time faculty members who completed a seven-item online questionnaire. Findings show that many participants felt unsupported by their administrator while navigating the stressful situations for which they sought help. This lack of support led to negative departmental cultures and faculty feeling insecure, undervalued, and isolated. This study highlights the need for policies and practices designed to build relationships between faculty and administrators. Efforts to improve the faculty-–administrator relationship can lead to increased understanding, …

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A Typology Of Perceived Negative Course Evaluations, Heather Carmack, Leah E. Lefebvre Jan 2023

A Typology Of Perceived Negative Course Evaluations, Heather Carmack, Leah E. Lefebvre

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Instructors and administrators continue to debate the merit and value of using course evaluations to assess instructor effectiveness and course outcomes, especially when students see course evaluations as satisfaction surveys where they can unload negative and/or hurtful comments directed at instructors. Little is known about instructors’ perceptions of negative course evaluations. This study qualitatively examined faculty’s (N = 90) perceptions of negative course evaluation qualitative comments. Using a grounded analyst-constructed typologies approach, three types of negative course evaluation comments were identified: professional, personal, and performance. These types of negative comments call into question the disconnection between what students and instructors …

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Investigating Mental Illness Perception On Social Media And The Propensity To Self-Diagnose, Camille R. Omega Jan 2023

Investigating Mental Illness Perception On Social Media And The Propensity To Self-Diagnose, Camille R. Omega

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The perception of mental illness has often been studied in traditional face-to-face settings, but the research on its perception in an online setting has been growing recently. Social media platforms have allowed for important conversations regarding mental health to gain popularity and led to the formation of communities where users can share their personal experiences. It has also given professionals the opportunity to educate others on various mental health topics and answer specific questions their audience may have. From these posts and forums, users who are concerned with their mental health can be given the guidance to achieve proper assistance …

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A Puerto Rican Diasporic Study In Central Florida, Chelsea Vélez Jan 2023

A Puerto Rican Diasporic Study In Central Florida, Chelsea Vélez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

This study seeks to explicate the intercultural experiences of Puerto Ricans within the diaspora of Central Florida. Specifically, the navigation of communication behaviors among intergroup and outgroup behaviors as Puerto Rican individuals acculturate into the area. This study utilizes communication accommodation theory as its basis to understand integration into a host culture and the impacts on socio-cultural communication behaviors. Findings show the importance of studying diasporic communities as they develop such as that of the Puerto Rican community in Central Florida because it situates the reality of an individual and groups sense of identity in a new cultural context. This …

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Student Perceptions Of Campus Crime And Victim Services, Tracy Gulliford Jan 2023

Student Perceptions Of Campus Crime And Victim Services, Tracy Gulliford

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Few would argue that college campus crime is a serious problem across the United States. Debate arises, however, regarding why the problem is so pervasive and how best to address it. This dissertation addresses that gap by exploring the nature and magnitude of the college campus crime problem followed by a rationale for studying student perceptions regarding knowledge about and use of victim services resources offered on the University of Central Florida (UCF) campus. Doing so is particularly important in light of the fact that five years have now passed since UCF launched the "Let's Be Clear" campaign designed to …

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Bilingual Switch Cost Effect On Language Processing, Ancuta Rader Jan 2023

Bilingual Switch Cost Effect On Language Processing, Ancuta Rader

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Recent reports suggest that over half of the world's population regularly uses two or more languages (or dialects) in their daily lives. The U.S. Census Bureau reports 21.6% of the population communicates in a language other than English within their homes. Thus, it is essential to methodically investigate how language processing and learning vary between monolingual and bilingual individuals. To date, research on the effects of bilingualism on language processing has been inconsistent or conflicting. The present study was designed to empirically examine if bilingual speakers differ in language processing and comprehension compared to their monolingual counterparts. It was hypothesized …

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Ivf So White, So Medical: Digital Normativity And Algorithm Bias In Infertility On Instagram, Caitlyn M. Jarvis, Margaret M. Quinlan Dec 2022

Ivf So White, So Medical: Digital Normativity And Algorithm Bias In Infertility On Instagram, Caitlyn M. Jarvis, Margaret M. Quinlan

Human-Machine Communication

Increasingly, women experiencing infertility are turning online to social media platforms, like Instagram, to engage with a support network and foster empathy. However, Instagram is also noted for its augmentation of White, cis, and heteronormative femininity through a process of silencing and minoritizing alternative, non-White voices. Through an inductive analysis of the most frequently used infertility hashtags, we collected and analyzed 252 Instagram posts to investigate how these algorithmic practices may socially construct the idealized IVF experience through communicating normative expectations. We identify predominant patterns of use that reinforce stratification within infertility treatments as primarily accessible to White women and …

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Designing A Loving Robot: A Social Construction Analysis Of A Sex Robot Creator’S Vision, Annette Masterson Dec 2022

Designing A Loving Robot: A Social Construction Analysis Of A Sex Robot Creator’S Vision, Annette Masterson

Human-Machine Communication

In 2018, one of the world’s first sex robots was released by CEO Matt McMullen and his company, RealDoll. With artificial intelligence capabilities, the Harmony model is meant to support and converse with users. Using a social construction of technology theory lens, this study develops the theory’s fourth level of analysis, emphasizing mass media’s construction abilities. A critical discourse analysis of 38 publicity interviews found a tendency to emphasize the companionship of sex robots while envisioning a future where integration is normalized, and a sentient robot is possible. As the creator, McMullen’s vision could determine the future of robotic design, …

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The Evolution Of Gendered Software: Products, Scientific Reasoning, Criticism, And Tools, Victoria A. E. Kratel Dec 2022

The Evolution Of Gendered Software: Products, Scientific Reasoning, Criticism, And Tools, Victoria A. E. Kratel

Human-Machine Communication

Over the past 7 decades, gendered software has become globally established. In this theoretical distribution, I outline the evolution of gendered software. The journey of gendered software started with the raw idea fueled by Alan Turing’s imitation game in the 1950s. And only shortly thereafter, in the 1960s and 1970s, the first gendered software products like Joseph Weizenbaum’s ELIZA were developed. Thus, academia took its time to not only explore technological aspects, but to further investigate the matter of gender in the 1990s CASA-paradigm (Nass et al., 1994) and Media Equation (Reeves & Nass, 1996). As these theories reasoned the …

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Do People Perceive Alexa As Gendered? A Cross-Cultural Study Of People’S Perceptions, Expectations, And Desires Of Alexa, Leopoldina Fortunati, Autumn P. Edwards, Anna Maria Manganelli, Chad Edwards, Federico De Luca Dec 2022

Do People Perceive Alexa As Gendered? A Cross-Cultural Study Of People’S Perceptions, Expectations, And Desires Of Alexa, Leopoldina Fortunati, Autumn P. Edwards, Anna Maria Manganelli, Chad Edwards, Federico De Luca

Human-Machine Communication

Mainly, the scholarly debate on Alexa has focused on sexist/anti-woman gender representations in the everyday life of many families, on a cluster of themes such as privacy, insecurity, and trust, and on the world of education and health. This paper takes another stance and explores via online survey methodology how university student respondents in two countries (the United States, n = 333; and Italy, n = 322) perceive Alexa’s image and gender, what they expect from this voice-based assistant, and how they would like Alexa to be. Results of a free association exercise showed that Alexa’s image was scarcely embodied …

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Gender Ambiguity In Voice-Based Assistants: Gender Perception And Influences Of Context, Sandra Mooshammer, Katrin Etzrodt Dec 2022

Gender Ambiguity In Voice-Based Assistants: Gender Perception And Influences Of Context, Sandra Mooshammer, Katrin Etzrodt

Human-Machine Communication

Recently emerging synthetic acoustically gender-ambiguous voices could contribute to dissolving the still prevailing genderism. Yet, are we indeed perceiving these voices as “unassignable”? Or are we trying to assimilate them into existing genders? To investigate the perceived ambiguity, we conducted an explorative 3 (male, female, ambiguous voice) × 3 (male, female, ambiguous topic) experiment. We found that, although participants perceived the gender-ambiguous voice as ambiguous, they used a profoundly wide range of the scale, indicating tendencies toward a gender. We uncovered a mild dissolve of gender roles. Neither the listener’s gender nor the personal gender stereotypes impacted the perception. However, …

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Gender And Human-Machine Communication: Where Are We?, Leopoldina Fortunati, Autumn P. Edwards Dec 2022

Gender And Human-Machine Communication: Where Are We?, Leopoldina Fortunati, Autumn P. Edwards

Human-Machine Communication

In this introduction to the fifth volume of the journal Human-Machine Communication, we present and discuss the five articles focusing on gender and human-machine communication. In this essay, we will analyze the theme of gender, including how this notion has historically and politically been set up, and for what reasons. We will start by considering gender in in-person communication, then we will progress to consider what happens to gender when it is mediated by the most important ICTs that preceded HMC: the telephone, mobile phone, and computer-mediated communication (CMC). We outline the historical framework necessary to analyze the last section …

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Modeling The Effects Of Diversity And Corporations On Participation Dynamics In Floss Ecosystems, Olivia Newton Dec 2022

Modeling The Effects Of Diversity And Corporations On Participation Dynamics In Floss Ecosystems, Olivia Newton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

A multitude of societal issues associated with the development of technology have emerged over the years including, but not limited to: insufficient personnel for maintenance; a lack of accessibility; the spread of harmful tools; and bias and discrimination against marginalized groups. I propose that a systems perspective is necessary to identify potential leverage points in technology production systems to influence them towards increased social good and evaluate their effectiveness for intervention. Toward this end, I conducted a mixed-methods study of a widely-adopted approach in tech production, free/libre and open source software (FLOSS) development. A survey was distributed to elicit responses …

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Exoskeletons And The Future Of Work: Envisioning Power And Control In A Workforce Without Limits, Gavin L. Kirkwood, J. Nan Wilkenfeld, Norah E. Dunbar Apr 2022

Exoskeletons And The Future Of Work: Envisioning Power And Control In A Workforce Without Limits, Gavin L. Kirkwood, J. Nan Wilkenfeld, Norah E. Dunbar

Human-Machine Communication

Exoskeletons are an emerging form of technology that combines the skills of both machines and humans to give wearers the ability to complete physically demanding tasks that would be too strenuous for most humans. Exoskeleton adoption has the potential to both enhance and disrupt many aspects of work, including power dynamics in the workplace and the human-machine interactions that take place. Dyadic Power Theory (DPT) is a useful theory for exploring the impacts of exoskeleton adoption. In this conceptual paper, we extend DPT to relationships between humans and machines in organizations, as well as human-human communication where use of an …

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Human-Machine Communication: Complete Volume 4 Apr 2022

Human-Machine Communication: Complete Volume 4

Human-Machine Communication

This is the complete volume of HMC Volume 4.

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