Taking Social Machines beyond the Ideal Humanlike Other

Abstract

This chapter examines a deeper problem, arguing that the drive to make machines that are ideal humanlike communicators may undermine people's acknowledgment of the range of ways in which humans and non-humans communicate, whether by choice or necessity, in offline and online environments. It considers the possibilities of interactive machines that are designed not to mimic or replace human communicators, but rather to operate as overtly non-human others with which humans can nevertheless interact, communicate, collaborate, and envision new ways to be in the world. The chapter suggests that designs for socialbots and robots that idealize human modes of communication and interaction, whether online or in physical spaces, should instead attend to the many different ways in which humans communicate within their social networks. More philosophical perspective from which to theorize relations with robots can be developed by extending Emmanuel Levinas's conception of "the face to face" that occurs during human–human encounters.