What Makes AI ‘Intelligent’ and ‘Caring’?: Exploring Affect and Relationality Across Three Sites of Intelligence and Care

Giulia De Togni; Sonja Erikainen; Sarah Chan; Sarah Cunningham-Burley

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113874

What Makes AI ‘Intelligent’ and ‘Caring’? Exploring Affect and Relationality Across Three Sites of Intelligence and Care

Giulia De Togni^* (Corresponding Author), Sonja Erikainen, Sarah Chan, Sarah Cunningham-Burley

^*Corresponding author for this work

Sociology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

4 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This paper scrutinises how AI and robotic technologies are transforming the relationships between people and machines in new affective, embodied and relational ways. Through investigating what it means to exist as human ‘in relation’ to AI across health and care contexts, we aim to make three main contributions. (1) We start by highlighting the complexities of philosophical issues surrounding the concepts of “artificial intelligence” and “ethical machines.” (2) We outline some potential challenges and opportunities that the creation of such technologies may bring in the health and care settings. We focus on AI applications that interface with health and care via examples where AI is explicitly designed as an ‘augmenting’ technology that can overcome human bodily and cognitive as well as socio-economic constraints. We focus on three dimensions of ‘intelligence’ - physical, interpretive, and emotional - using the examples of robotic surgery, digital pathology, and robot caregivers, respectively. Through investigating these areas, we interrogate the social context and implications of human-technology interaction in the interrelational sphere of care practice. (3) We argue, in conclusion, that there is a need for an interdisciplinary mode of theorising ‘intelligence’ as relational and affective in ways that can accommodate the fragmentation of both conceptual and material boundaries between human and AI, and human and machine. Our aim in investigating these sociological, philosophical and ethical questions is primarily to explore the relationship between affect, relationality and ‘intelligence,’ the intersection and integration of ‘human’ and ‘artificial’ intelligence, through an examination of how AI is used across different dimensions of intelligence. This allows us to scrutinise how ‘intelligence’ is ultimately conveyed, understood and (technologically or algorithmically) configured in practice through emerging relationships that go beyond the conceptual divisions between humans and machines, and humans vis-à-vis artificial intelligence-based technologies.

Original language	English
Article number	113874
Number of pages	8
Journal	Social Science & Medicine
Volume	277
Early online date	23 Mar 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113874
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2021

Bibliographical note

This research was funded in whole by the Wellcome Trust [Seed Award ‘AI and Health’ 213643/Z/18/Z]. For the purpose of Open Access, the authors have applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. The authors would like to thank Dr Jane Hopton for inspiring discussions about AI and dimensions of intelligence, and three anonymous reviewers as well as the editor in chief Dr Timmemans at Social Science and Medicine for their very helpful and constructive feedback.

Keywords

Artificial intelligence
Robotics
Health and social care
Policy

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113874Licence: CC BY

DeTogni_etal_SSM_What_makes_AI_VOR
This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Final published version, 557 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{a94f4de0cd9842eb84e7c85c47c40cbc,

title = "What Makes AI {\textquoteleft}Intelligent{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}Caring{\textquoteright}?: Exploring Affect and Relationality Across Three Sites of Intelligence and Care",

abstract = "This paper scrutinises how AI and robotic technologies are transforming the relationships between people and machines in new affective, embodied and relational ways. Through investigating what it means to exist as human {\textquoteleft}in relation{\textquoteright} to AI across health and care contexts, we aim to make three main contributions. (1) We start by highlighting the complexities of philosophical issues surrounding the concepts of “artificial intelligence” and “ethical machines.” (2) We outline some potential challenges and opportunities that the creation of such technologies may bring in the health and care settings. We focus on AI applications that interface with health and care via examples where AI is explicitly designed as an {\textquoteleft}augmenting{\textquoteright} technology that can overcome human bodily and cognitive as well as socio-economic constraints. We focus on three dimensions of {\textquoteleft}intelligence{\textquoteright} - physical, interpretive, and emotional - using the examples of robotic surgery, digital pathology, and robot caregivers, respectively. Through investigating these areas, we interrogate the social context and implications of human-technology interaction in the interrelational sphere of care practice. (3) We argue, in conclusion, that there is a need for an interdisciplinary mode of theorising {\textquoteleft}intelligence{\textquoteright} as relational and affective in ways that can accommodate the fragmentation of both conceptual and material boundaries between human and AI, and human and machine. Our aim in investigating these sociological, philosophical and ethical questions is primarily to explore the relationship between affect, relationality and {\textquoteleft}intelligence,{\textquoteright} the intersection and integration of {\textquoteleft}human{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}artificial{\textquoteright} intelligence, through an examination of how AI is used across different dimensions of intelligence. This allows us to scrutinise how {\textquoteleft}intelligence{\textquoteright} is ultimately conveyed, understood and (technologically or algorithmically) configured in practice through emerging relationships that go beyond the conceptual divisions between humans and machines, and humans vis-{\`a}-vis artificial intelligence-based technologies.",

keywords = "Artificial intelligence, Robotics, Health and social care, Policy",

author = "{De Togni}, Giulia and Sonja Erikainen and Sarah Chan and Sarah Cunningham-Burley",

note = "This research was funded in whole by the Wellcome Trust [Seed Award {\textquoteleft}AI and Health{\textquoteright} 213643/Z/18/Z]. For the purpose of Open Access, the authors have applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. The authors would like to thank Dr Jane Hopton for inspiring discussions about AI and dimensions of intelligence, and three anonymous reviewers as well as the editor in chief Dr Timmemans at Social Science and Medicine for their very helpful and constructive feedback.",

year = "2021",

month = may,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113874",

language = "English",

volume = "277",

journal = "Social Science & Medicine",

issn = "0277-9536",

publisher = "Elsevier Limited",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - What Makes AI ‘Intelligent’ and ‘Caring’?

T2 - Exploring Affect and Relationality Across Three Sites of Intelligence and Care

AU - De Togni, Giulia

AU - Erikainen, Sonja

AU - Chan, Sarah

AU - Cunningham-Burley, Sarah

N1 - This research was funded in whole by the Wellcome Trust [Seed Award ‘AI and Health’ 213643/Z/18/Z]. For the purpose of Open Access, the authors have applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. The authors would like to thank Dr Jane Hopton for inspiring discussions about AI and dimensions of intelligence, and three anonymous reviewers as well as the editor in chief Dr Timmemans at Social Science and Medicine for their very helpful and constructive feedback.

PY - 2021/5/1

Y1 - 2021/5/1

N2 - This paper scrutinises how AI and robotic technologies are transforming the relationships between people and machines in new affective, embodied and relational ways. Through investigating what it means to exist as human ‘in relation’ to AI across health and care contexts, we aim to make three main contributions. (1) We start by highlighting the complexities of philosophical issues surrounding the concepts of “artificial intelligence” and “ethical machines.” (2) We outline some potential challenges and opportunities that the creation of such technologies may bring in the health and care settings. We focus on AI applications that interface with health and care via examples where AI is explicitly designed as an ‘augmenting’ technology that can overcome human bodily and cognitive as well as socio-economic constraints. We focus on three dimensions of ‘intelligence’ - physical, interpretive, and emotional - using the examples of robotic surgery, digital pathology, and robot caregivers, respectively. Through investigating these areas, we interrogate the social context and implications of human-technology interaction in the interrelational sphere of care practice. (3) We argue, in conclusion, that there is a need for an interdisciplinary mode of theorising ‘intelligence’ as relational and affective in ways that can accommodate the fragmentation of both conceptual and material boundaries between human and AI, and human and machine. Our aim in investigating these sociological, philosophical and ethical questions is primarily to explore the relationship between affect, relationality and ‘intelligence,’ the intersection and integration of ‘human’ and ‘artificial’ intelligence, through an examination of how AI is used across different dimensions of intelligence. This allows us to scrutinise how ‘intelligence’ is ultimately conveyed, understood and (technologically or algorithmically) configured in practice through emerging relationships that go beyond the conceptual divisions between humans and machines, and humans vis-à-vis artificial intelligence-based technologies.

AB - This paper scrutinises how AI and robotic technologies are transforming the relationships between people and machines in new affective, embodied and relational ways. Through investigating what it means to exist as human ‘in relation’ to AI across health and care contexts, we aim to make three main contributions. (1) We start by highlighting the complexities of philosophical issues surrounding the concepts of “artificial intelligence” and “ethical machines.” (2) We outline some potential challenges and opportunities that the creation of such technologies may bring in the health and care settings. We focus on AI applications that interface with health and care via examples where AI is explicitly designed as an ‘augmenting’ technology that can overcome human bodily and cognitive as well as socio-economic constraints. We focus on three dimensions of ‘intelligence’ - physical, interpretive, and emotional - using the examples of robotic surgery, digital pathology, and robot caregivers, respectively. Through investigating these areas, we interrogate the social context and implications of human-technology interaction in the interrelational sphere of care practice. (3) We argue, in conclusion, that there is a need for an interdisciplinary mode of theorising ‘intelligence’ as relational and affective in ways that can accommodate the fragmentation of both conceptual and material boundaries between human and AI, and human and machine. Our aim in investigating these sociological, philosophical and ethical questions is primarily to explore the relationship between affect, relationality and ‘intelligence,’ the intersection and integration of ‘human’ and ‘artificial’ intelligence, through an examination of how AI is used across different dimensions of intelligence. This allows us to scrutinise how ‘intelligence’ is ultimately conveyed, understood and (technologically or algorithmically) configured in practice through emerging relationships that go beyond the conceptual divisions between humans and machines, and humans vis-à-vis artificial intelligence-based technologies.

KW - Artificial intelligence

KW - Robotics

KW - Health and social care

KW - Policy

U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113874

DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113874

M3 - Article

SN - 0277-9536

VL - 277

JO - Social Science & Medicine

JF - Social Science & Medicine

M1 - 113874

ER -