Cultural and literary narratives on human–machine interaction reflect the wishes and fears of humankind faced with rapid and paradigm-shifting technological advances. Particularly in light of the development of so-called artificial emotional intelligence, they address the question as to what future role humans will have in this interaction and what will remain uniquely and irreducibly human. As such narratives have always done before, they will in turn feed back into future technological development and, by doing so, influence the eventual outward appearance and purpose of machines built by roboticists, but also whether those machines will be perceived as friendly or threatening by society.
Little research has been conducted on the individual and social consequences of human–machine relationships, whether in real-life or in narrative forms. In the forthcoming conference, we will therefore investigate narratives on human–machine relationships in literature as well as in media such as anime, manga, computer games, films, and plays.
The conference organizers, therefore, invite proposals for presentations dealing with one or more of the following topics:
- Models of human–machine interaction in Japanese (popular) culture and literature
- Forms of closeness between humans and machines in Japanese (popular) culture and science fiction
- Attachment and intimacy towards machines
- Emotions in human–machine interaction
- Narratives on soul and consciousness of machines
- New forms of bonding and their influence on individuals and (traditional) social structures
- Narratives on new forms of artificial intelligence
- Utopian and dystopian visions of human–machine interaction
- Risks and chances of future human–machine interaction
- Narratives of fears and expectations towards machines
The conference is scheduled for 28-29 October 2022 and will be held online.
Presentations are to be given in English. The organizers plan to publish an edited volume as a result of this conference.
Proposals, including a title, an abstract of no more than 300 words, and a short bio, should be submitted to elena.giannoulis@fu-berlin.de by 15 April 2022. For further inquiries, please contact Berthold Frommann at berthold.frommann@fu-berlin.d