The Home in the Digital Age

Routledge Advances in Sociology

by Antonio Argandona (Editor), Joy Malala (Editor), Richard Peatfield (Editor)

The Home in the Digital Age is a set of multidisciplinary studies exploring the impact of digital technologies in the home, with a shift of emphasis from technology to the people living and using this in their homes.

The book covers a wide variety of topics on the design, introduction and use of digital technologies in the home, combining the technological dimension with the cognitive, emotional, cultural and symbolic dimensions of the objects that incorporate digital technologies and project them onto people’s lives. It offers a coherent approach, that of the home, which gives unity to the discussion.

Scholars of the home, the house and the family will find here the connection with the problems derived from the use of domestic robots and connected devices. Students of artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, big data and other branches of digital technologies will find ideas and arguments to apply their disciplines to the home and participate fruitfully in forums where digital technologies are built and negotiated in the home. Experts from various disciplines ・ psychologists and sociologists; philosophers, epistemologists and ethicists; economists; engineers, architects, urban planners and designers and so on ・ and also those interested in developing policies for the home and family will find this book contains well-founded and useful ideas to focus their work.

216 pages, Hardcover

Published May 31, 2021

Reviews

[Ali Di · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book has nine sections/articles by various writers that explore the impact of artificial intelligence on human life from diverse perspectives. Although two articles were captivating, the remaining ones lacked originality and failed to offer a detailed analysis of the subject matter. I think the book serves as an introductory guide for readers interested in gaining insight into the different aspects of artificial intelligence and its effects on modern society.

Excerpts from the book:
Page 48

intelligent devices - these devices can also act as domestic spies, they learn everything about our habits, timetables, likes and dislikes, etc. This opens the door to security vulnerabilities.

Page 52

While humans are limited in the attention and kindness that they can expend on another person, artificial bots can channel virtually unlimited resources into building relationships. Even though not many of us are aware of this, some AI techniques are used to optimise the content of some video games, mobile applications and series so that they become addictive. Tech addiction is the new frontier of human dependency.

Besides, who has not heard someone saying that he/she is not able to find his/her way without Google Maps or any similar type of application? We are lost without these new technologies.

Nowadays, we do not need to remember any phone number, to do any calculation, to memorise anything. All of this is close at hand, just typing or clicking the keyboard of our computer, writing some words in our mobiles or even just using Amazon Alexa to control your entire house with only your voice. Not to say the time we spend with those “smart” friends.

This indiscriminate use of intelligent devices is also related to the critical thinking and the moral authority that comes from the knowledge that people have. Earlier the authority regarding knowledge was based on the wisdom of certain people, who were consulted when we wanted to know or learn something. Now everything is questioned and we rely on search engines or apps rather than on people. It is even more important what a search engine says than the experience of someone.