Podcast Transcript: Smart Cities and Chatbots
Hi from the Library Student Team! This podcast will focus on Week 8: Smart Cities and Week 9: Chatbots and Questions of (Digital) Conversation.
TRANSCRIPT
ST1: Hi from the Library Student Team! I’m Iqra and I’m Tabita, and this week’s podcast will focus on Week 8: Smart Cities and Week 9: Chatbots and Questions of (Digital) Conversation.
ST2: A lot of discussions happened around these two topics so let’s dive straight in. In Smart Cities, the main highlight was the use of technology to enhance the quality of living in a city for its citizens. Essentially, smart cities develop after introducing information and communication technologies (ICT) within an area. But what’s the essence of a smart city? How different is it from a non-smart city?
ST2: Based on this week’s responses, the main essence of a Smart City is a better quality of life for individuals, using resources in the most efficient and sustainable way! Like the example of using an app to find free parking spaces, personally I think that’s a brilliant idea. It would save time, burn less fuel and aid in less pollution. But like most apps, what if it’s only programmed to map more developed countries, where does that leave the rest of the world?
ST1: Exactly, while adapting to these advancements, there’s certainly a Digital Divide between those with full access to such digital technologies including internet, computers … and those who don’t. Can we do something about this? Will it be easier to remove the gap?
ST2: I couldn’t agree more and some of you suggested raising awareness and educating people as a way of reducing this digital divide. This certainly is a slow and difficult process because not everyone wants to be connected and finds it difficult to engage with, this often includes the older population and those with limited internet access due to financial hardship. What do you think about this, Tabita?
ST2: I agree, it’s crucial to strike a balance between embracing innovation and ensuring it serves the greater good for all members of society, it needs to be inclusive and accessible to all. Like the concept of “shareable cities” where citizens exchange skills and tools, which reminds me of the barter system. This would definitely promote social inclusion and a more sustainable society. Do you think there are any downsides to all these technological advancements?
ST1: Certainly, we can see people losing their jobs due to automation and in relation to the different types of smart cities reviewed, these new technologies can affect the climate and quality of life.
ST2: On that note, the exploration of gender and communication in Week 9 definitely had me intrigued. We reviewed Alan Turing’s idea of ‘The Imitation Game’ to decide if machines can think. This brought about ideas surrounding gender and what determines who is a man or a woman in communication.
ST2: Turing’s view is that gender is only constructed through language and its interpretation, therefore it’s more about reading and communication. However, Judith Butler’s idea of gender is an identity constructed over time through repeated acts; a performance that’s produced and not something that existed before this performance. Two different views here, Tabita; what did others on the course think?
ST1: Some of you stated that there’s no perfect model to describe the personality of a man or a woman and you can’t determine these constructs based on hair, voice, or other interpretations. If gender is about communication, then everyone has a different expression of gender. Others argued against the concept of gender as fluid. For hundreds of years gender and sex have been used interchangeably and hundreds of academic papers have validated the behaviours of men and women.
ST2: What a discussion! You all have such intriguing ideas, and this brings us to the idea of gender in Chatbots. Can a Chatbot have a gender? A chatbot is a computer programme designed to mimic human interactions to provide assistance through simulated and automated conversations. And this is related to Turing’s question, ‘Can machines think?’ For him, thinking is related to constructions of gender. Some of you argued that chatbots can’t have a gender unless they’re expressing opinions or emotions.
ST1: I also noticed someone that said it’s a language algorithm, they are simply filling in words in the most predictable way according to their underlying model. We impose gender and ideas of gender onto them through our interaction with them. What an interesting perspective and this makes me think that who we are feeds into so much of the things around us, even technology.
ST2: You’re right, Tabita, who we are and what we identify as influences how we interpret things. This brings us to the end of our discussion, but we want to thank you all so much for these amazing ideas. Catch us next week when we discuss Week 10 — Reflecting on your employability for a digital future. Thanks!
