Abstract
Robots, artificial intelligence, and autonomous vehicles are associated with substantial narrative and image-related legacies that often place them in a negative light. This chapter outlines the basics of the “dramaturgical” and technosocial approaches that are used throughout this book to gain insights about how these emerging technologies are affecting deeply-seated social and psychological processes. The robot as an “other” in the workplace and community—an object of attention and discussion– has been a frequently-utilized theme of science fiction as well as a topic for research analysis, with many people “acting out” their anxieties and grievances. Human-AI contests and displays of robotic feats are often used to intimidate people and reinforce that individuals are not in control of their own destinies, which presents unsettling prospects for the future.
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Oravec, J.A. (2022). Dramaturgical and Ethical Approaches to the Dark Side: An Introduction. In: Good Robot, Bad Robot. Social and Cultural Studies of Robots and AI. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14013-6_2
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