Results

I would like to say a huge thank you to all those who took part in my research, either through the interviews I conducted, filling in the survey or adding to the articles on this website.

My research is now closed, but you are still more than welcome to submit reviews to this website.  So, here are my results:

For my project I decided to investigate the perceptions people have of AI and VR.

Previously, whilst in Japan, I (Silk, 2010) researched the portrayal of AI in popular media and concluded that these ideas seemed to differ depending on the media’s country of origin.  Media which originated in either the US or Europe tended to portray ideas that are more critical of AI often leading to a post-apocalypse or unstable vision of the future, where even if AI has aided human development it’s downsides have caused chaos.  On the other hand media which has originated from Japan tends to, whilst showing the problems caused by AI, focus on its redeeming features and its ability to help humanity.

Another, driving force for my research stemmed from reading about “the ethnography of robots” (ethnographymatters website, 2012).  I was a little surprised to find out that there a relatively few anthropologists who consider the possibility of this type of ethnography to be valuable.

As such whilst investigating public perception of AI and VR I also wanted to investigate how plausible people believed the ideas of popular media to be, if these ideas influenced them at all.

Methodology

After coming up with my research question, which was to investigate public perceptions of AI and VR and the influence of these by the media I started out by seeing if I could find any willing participants that I could interview.  I used facebook to post messages to KentANIMEted, an anime and manga society based at the University of Kent, and UKCSFX society, also based at the University of Kent, who focus on Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Extreme Cult.

I received several responses and decided to hold a drop in session for six hours so that people could come and discuss their ideas of AI and VR with me.  I was able to interview seven people.  However, I had not come with any set questions as really I just wanted people’s ideas without guiding them.

I would have quite liked to continue interviews but knowing how busy I was and how busy others would be I decided that it would be more convenient to use an online survey.  As such using the information I received through the interviews I was able to construct a questionnaire using primarily open questions so that people would be better able to detail their thoughts.  I then published a link to this questionnaire in three facebook groups – SFX, KentANIMEted and the Social Anthropology group.  Towards the end of my project, I also posted a link to my survey in a forum that a friend of mine recommended.  At the same time advertising my need for people to add to my social computing resource.

I used Word press to create a blog where people could leave reviews of popular media which feature AI or VR.  I asked for any examples from TV shows and music, to books and comics.  However, despite posting and reposting my requests for participants I was unable to get very many.  The total as of this report is six and I highly doubt I will be able to get any more.  I cannot say for certain why this is.  Perhaps it is lack of time considering the age range of my target group and the time of year.

Luckily, I had built a question into my survey that asked people about any influences on their ideas of AI and VR by popular media.

I had expected many ideas to reflect those of the dominant image that has been created by popular media.  However, despite the fact that the media surrounding AI and VR has generally influenced people’s opinions it is also clear that these images are often treated with at least some scepticism.

 

Conclusion and further areas of study

In answer to the question of whether ideas of AI and VR are influenced by popular media, I believe the answer to be a resounding yes.  However, it is not all that straight forward.

My findings, it can be argued, illustrate that the ideas of viewership expressed, in particular by Hall (1981 cited in Wilk, 2002:289-290) of an “oppositional stance” to Television’s messages and the “negotiated position” described by Wilk (2002:290) can be found in people’s responses.  Rather than merely digested what is presented to them in popular media, these ideas have acted as a base for the ideas that my respondents hold of AI and VR and have formed and shaped them.  Furthermore, many respondents were critical of the portrayal of the future in popular media especially the idea of a Utopia.  It was also interesting to note that some respondents recognised that we are not in a current position to be able to develop AI, in particular, and that in order for this to occur we still need to advance more technologically.  There was also some discussion of the inevitability of AI and although, only the minority seemed to believe that the coming about of AI was not inevitable it is still an important point that should be raised.

As a final note I wish to consider the potential of developing this research.  I believe that the best way to do this would be to expand the target range of respondents and perhaps approach more online forums that discuss ideas of AI.

In my analysis I only looked at popular media but I would also like to investigate whether people are aware of more academic texts, such as those by Hans Moravec and Ray Kurzweil (although, these are now somewhat dated examples).  I have also come across the work of N. Katherine Hayles and Donna Haraway on the subject and wonder just how widely read these two authors are.

Finally, it would be interesting to note whether there is a difference of ideas and sources of ideas between different age groups concerning AI and VR.      

 

Bibliography

• Wilk, R.R., 2002. ‘It’s Destroying a Whole Generation’: Television and Moral Discourse in Belize. In: K. Askew and R.R. Wilk, eds. 2002. The Anthropology of Media: A Reader. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.  Chp. 17.
• Silk, D., 2010. Has the Portrayal of AI and Cyborgism in Popular Culture led us to Believe their Advent will Herald a Dystopian Future? Canterbury: CSAC Archives
• Ford, H., 2012. The Ethnography of Robots. [online] Available at: <http://ethnographymatters.net/2012/01/15/the-ethnography-of-robots/&gt;

 

*If you wish to read my own work, or would like to see a more detailed breakdown of my findings please contact myself at dreamofmachines@gmail.com, or contact the University of Kent School of anthropology and conservation at csac@kent.ac.uk

~ by dreamsofmachines on May 11, 2012.