Sophia the Robot as a Political Choreography to Advance Economic Interests: An Exercise in Political Phenomenology and Critical Performance-Oriented Philosophy of Technology

Jaana Parviainen, Mark Coeckelbergh

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterScientificpeer-review

Abstract

Controversy arose when a humanoid robot named “Sophia” was given citizenship and did performances all over the world. Why should some robots gain citizenship? Going beyond recent discussions in robot ethics and human–robot interaction, and drawing on phenomenological approaches to political philosophy, actor-network theory, and performance-oriented philosophy of technology, we propose to interpret and discuss the world tour of Sophia as a political choreography: we argue that the media performances of the Sophia robot were politically choreographed to advance economic interests. Using a phenomenological approach and attending to the performance and movement of robots and illustrating our discussion with media material of the Sophia performance, we explore the mechanisms through which the media spectacle and robotic performance advanced the economic interests of technology industries and their governmental promotors.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDiachronic Perspectives on Embodiment and Technology
Subtitle of host publicationGestures and Artefacts
EditorsThiemo Breyer, Alexander Gerner, Niklas Grouls, Johannes Schick
PublisherSpringer
Pages57-66
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-031-50085-5
ISBN (Print)978-3-031-50084-8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024
Publication typeA3 Book chapter

Publication series

NamePhilosophy of Engineering and Technology
Volume46
ISSN (Print)1879-7202
ISSN (Electronic)1879-7210

Keywords

  • Social robotics
  • Phenomenology
  • Ethics
  • Embodiment
  • Robot market

Publication forum classification

  • Publication forum level 2

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Sophia the Robot as a Political Choreography to Advance Economic Interests: An Exercise in Political Phenomenology and Critical Performance-Oriented Philosophy of Technology'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this