Surrogate Humanity: Race, Robots, and the Politics of Technological Futures

Perverse Modernities

by Neda Atanasoski, Kalindi Vora

In Surrogate Humanity Neda Atanasoski and Kalindi Vora trace the ways in which robots, artificial intelligence, and other technologies serve as surrogates for human workers within a labor system entrenched in racial capitalism and patriarchy. Analyzing myriad technologies, from sex robots and military drones to sharing-economy platforms, Atanasoski and Vora show how liberal structures of antiblackness, settler colonialism, and patriarchy are fundamental to human---machine interactions, as well as the very definition of the human. While these new technologies and engineering projects promise a revolutionary new future, they replicate and reinforce racialized and gendered ideas about devalued work, exploitation, dispossession, and capitalist accumulation. Yet, even as engineers design robots to be more perfect versions of the human—more rational killers, more efficient workers, and tireless companions—the potential exists to develop alternative modes of engineering and technological development in ways that refuse the racial and colonial logics that maintain social hierarchies and inequality.

Genres: Technology, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theory, Academic

256 pages, Hardcover

Published March 29, 2019

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the topic, the introduction, and the first chapter – but struggled to understand how the argument really developed beyond endlessly repeating the (valid but kind of obvious) point that histories racialized and gendered labor always-already overdetermine our understanding of automated work processes. Many of the examples are interesting to read, but they mostly just repeat minor variations of this one observation.

[Cait Lackey]

Brilliant! This series explicates the risks and consequences for the colonization of robots. I appreciate any attempt to foreshadow human design and uses of technology, and I think this work is a useful tool for the argument that we should not be designing AI and robots in our own human image. If we want a more just and equitable future, a future that is both humane and inclusive for all (even the non-human), it is necessary to evolve beyond the capitalistic roots and patriarchal chains that bind our consciousness. Let AI and robots be their own.

[bookblogjourney · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re interested in AI and gender and if you’ve ever wondered why Siri and Alexa are both using women's voices and women's names. Or maybe you saw the conflict between Scarlett Johansson and Sam Altman, the CEO of Open AI, which developed ChatGPT where essentially opening he tried to start a new chatbot model that used an almost identical version of Scarlett Johansson’s voice; it was clearly modeled after a movie she was in a few years back where she played a sentient chatbot and Sam Altman’s team tried to reach out to Scarlett Johansson, and she was like ‘No, I don’t want you to use my voice for this;’ and then he did it anyway. So if you’re interested in how AI interacts with existing gender stereotypes as well. I recommend this book; it is probably one of my top ten books of all time because I’m super interested in feminist theory and feminist politics, so if you’re especially interested in how AI replicates the gendered way we view domestic and emotional labor, read this.

[Noelle Faiza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really poignant discourse and analysis, however the critique in me wants more robust evidence of some of the claims and more addressing of possible counter arguments. Because I agree, but I wouldn’t know how to effectively combat certain points about tech with this book.

[Emmanuel Magdalene · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 very dense but VERY good. so important and helpful for understanding current technological relationships. some of their examples are a bit flimsy tho but the theory holds up.

[Anabel Giacobbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved. Very grateful that this book was assigned in one of my classes because I was more or less forced to do close and thoughtful reading.