Alone Together Presented by: Rutilo Alonso, Michelle De Leon, Cindy Doan, Kaitlyn Shea, Jiaen Zhou Phil 110 Professor Bernasconi

Introduction ● Author: Sherry Turkle ● Focus: Relationship between humans & technology

Part 1: The Robotic Moment In Solitude, New Intimacies

Chapter 1: Nearest Neighbors ● In the 1970’s robots came into existence ● “Aliveness” in robots: o Substitutes for humans & pets ●“Nearest Neighbors” ○ Pets ○ Technology ○ Are Robots “alive enough”?

Chapter 2: Alive Enough ● Robotic Experiment o Robot’s emotions vs. Human’s reaction ● “Robotic Moment” o Results to more reliability on robots ● Will people start to rely more on computer generated “perfect” responses than the actual experience of other people

Chapter 3: True Companions ● Another study was conducted with electronic pets, allowing a wide range of age groups o Result: Humans became attached to them ● Turkle’s Fear: o People will no longer see electronic companions as “better than nothing”, but as “better than anything”

Chapter 4: Enchantment ●Robotic Companions ●As Babysitters - Children with boring babysitters or who don’t get attention from parents would like a robot.Those with fun babysitters would rather keep the person. ●As Caretakers for Elderly - Benefits: constant company & not wasting time visiting someone who can’t remember. - Jealousy/ Others didn’t like the possibility of being replaced or forgotten by family members

Chapter 5: Complicities ●COG & Kismet - Robots with human like features: torso, movable arms, neck, & head ●People, especially children, loved interacting with it. They wanted a connection, satisfying need to be loved and favored ●Turkle worried by fascination, “sociable technology will always disappoint because it promises what it cannot deliver. It promises friendship but can only performances”

Chapter 6: Love’s Labor Lost ●Growing belief that robotic companions for elderly have therapeutic benefits.Turkle’s study shows that the elderly develop attachments to the robots and are grateful for their presence ●Diminish our notion of love. Part of loving someone is taking care of them. ●People use robots as excuse to not visit family member in homes, since they would have robots there already.

Chapter 7: Communion ●Artificial Intelligence (AI) ex. “ Creature comforts” - hug, help, emotion ● Cell phone animate robot ex. sense of security, companionship, connection ● Considering the robot for real ex. robot assistant is ok, but everyone deserves a person

Part 2: Networked In Intimacy, New Solitudes

Chapter 8: Always On ● Second Life in Social networking - Park is no longer a communal place ● “Place for hope” - Having one identity online and one offline ● Multitasking - Connectivity becomes overwhelming and stressful

Chapter 9 ： Growing Up Tethered ● Notion of independence - “tethered” to the internet and mobile devices ● Result- we depend on the technology to keep us connected to people, and it becomes more about the devices than the actual people.

Chapter 10 - No Need to Call ● The preferred method of communication o Allows a chance to think about how they want to portray themselves ● Positive light o Facebook, Instagram, etc. ● Losing your voice and emotions

Chapter 11 - Reduction & Betrayal ● Immersed in virtual lives ● Looking to technology for a life rather than to the actual world pursuits and people

Chapter 12 - True Confessions ● Relying more on technology and less on people ● Not facing reality

Chapter 13: Anxiety ● Technology can better some peoples lives o Organizing their calendars that can be accessed at any time o Contacting loved ones at any moment ● But for others it creates a whole new sense of anxiety o New social environment where people need t0 feel like they are accepted and liked o Permanency of the internet o Connectivity to everyone ● Vicious Cycle o Technology was used to relieve stress and make our lives easier, but it has led to new stresses that we haven’t had to deal with before.

Chapter 14: The nostalgia of the young ● Although are so connected with phones, teenages and adults always reflect and miss the older days before technology didn’t consume our lives ● New generation of teenagers are now being brought up in a generation where they are competing with technology for attention and constantly needing to check social media themselves

Conclusion ● Technology in general is threatening the bonds that humans have made with each other in the past o With robots, people love the interactions but it can never deliver a true friendship o People deserved to be loved and taken care of and robots take away that opportunity ● Technology has made us so “connected” yet so disconnected at the same time o We get consumed into the world that you are constantly looking into and checking your screen forgetting about the world that you are living in.