Machinic rhetorics and the influential movements of robots

Abstract

From spiritual vehicles, channeling the miracle of Christ, to science incarnate, operating beyond human interest, machines can communicate. Building from literatures on posthuman performance and ambient rhetoric, this article develops “machinic rhetoric” as a framework useful for appreciating the tacitly persuasive actions of machines (such as robots and computers). A selective history of machinic movement is traced to highlight the historico-cultural meanings that can be associated with the movements of machines. Expert systems, machine learning platforms, and voice-based interfaces are examined as contemporary examples of machinic rhetorics. Implications of machinic rhetoric to scholarship of technology and rhetoric are considered.