Q2. ‘The machine/organism relationships are obsolete, unnecessary’ writes Haraway.
In what ways have our relations to machines been theorized?


1)
Mitchell, William J. (2003) ‘Me++:The Cyborg Self and the Networked City.’
http://www.google.com/books?hl=zh-TW&lr=&id=wcBo7pq3X1AC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=cyborg&ots=Xp9YQklVls&sig=AqV8NZWppVCHNQMV2iR2BdvS0-o#v=onepage&q&f=false(accessed 16 March 2011)

The chapter two of this book which named “Connecting Creatures” describes how machines are related to human. Machines and man are represented as creatures in the book and they are interacting with each other. The chapter has been divided into nine sub-sections, introducing nine ways of exploring human-machine relations. They are limbs(extended); flows(channeled); sensorium(augmented); gaze(unrestricted); nervous system(de-localized); control(distributed); mind(multiplied); memory(evolving); individuals (indefinite). The author describes electronic device as an extension of human body. Human utilize machines to do what they want. Machines perform tasks after receiving commands encoded by human. Human can also store transform memory into electronic storage which can be kept and recalled accurately. The function of machines enhances the connection between machines and human. Details can be explored under subheading “limbs(extended)” and “memory(evolving)”. Moreover, he mentioned that cyber enable surveillance of human activity by human, which is active all the time. Anyone who has access to one’s social network has an invisible control on his activity. Further details are described under the subheading “gaze(unrestricted)” and “control(distributed)”.
On top of that, he illustrated how the Internet makes a “multiplied mind”. A person can create different identities in cyber space. They would respond in different ways.

2)
Nichols, Bill (1988) ‘The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems’
http://www.anti-thesis.net/contents/texts/references/nichols-culturecybernetics.pdf(accessed 16 March 2011)

This journal article depicts how it looks like in a cybernetic environment. The author describes cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) as automated but intelligent individuals. Examples of machines that make up a cybernetic environment include telephone networks, communication satellites, etc. The article offers another angle of investigating the human-machine relation. Electronic devices other than computers are discussed on the level of system. The relation of human as a community with machines is looked into. The human-machine boundary has been blurred when the way people communicate with or without machines share similarities. For the ‘text’ or so-called ‘message-in-circuit’ function, immediate responses are required and which shares the same feature as face-to-face interaction. Moreover, the author also mentioned that this is a function that responds most personal to people. It is liken to normal conversation among human. He addressed how our ‘sense of reality’ is adjusted by new means of electronic computation and digital communication. In the cybernetic age, the digital devices changes our ways of perceiving and sending messages in the communication process among human. Machines have been incorporated into and become part of the human life or even part of the human body. This is almost the main theme of the article.


3)
Barresi, John (1987) ‘Prospects for the Cyberiad: Certain Limits on Human Self-Knowledge in the Cybernetic Age’ http://jbarresi.psychology.dal.ca/Papers/Cyberiad.pdf(accessed 16 March 2011)

The journal article suggests an argument against the fusion of machines and organisms. The author insists that there is a permanent difference between robots and human. Machines can never share the human nature. He describes life, mind and free will as unique features of human. Efforts have been made to try to make robots think and behave like human. He mentioned two kinds of tests for robots. One is the Turing Test which tests the IQ of the robot. Computer programmes can be set in the robot to empower it with intelligence. This simulates human IQ or even makes the robot excel human in chess games. For a robot which passes the other test, Cyberiad Test, it becomes a Cyberiad. Programmes imitating human behavior are set. However, it is illustrated that the Cyberiad can never have its free will. Machines cannot replace human mind. Even for a robot which looks like human, programmes have to be set in them. It doesn’t have mind. He also mentioned that human can explore himself to gain self-knowledge, which is an endless process. To conclude the author’s argument, no matter how much more efforts are put in robots, the line differentiating them from human exists.

4)
Möller, Sebastian (2005) ‘Quality of Telephone-Based Spoken Dialogue Systems’
http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-0-387-23190-7/#section=554621&page=1&locus=85 (accessed 16 March 2011)

The chapter 2 of the book, named “Quality of Human-Machine Interaction over the Phone”, clearly describes how a telephone works for human-human interaction and human-machine interaction. Machines take an important role in the process of exchanging information. When each ends of the phone stand a person, the phone serves as transmitter only. While only one-end stands a person and the other ends as answering machine, the phone seems to serve as a transmitter and a virtual person. Human express their needs by dialing corresponding numbers and the machine responses by outputting pre-recorded voices. Compared to human-human interaction, it is said that human-machine interaction has a larger variety. It is more accurate and useful for checking. During the process, a number of transmission elements have to be noticed: physical media such as cables and fibres; elements in analogue media such as propagation time, frequency distortion and noise; elements in digital media such as codec delay and signal distortion. Most importantly, the frequency of the transmission channel has to be tuned right. To interact with machine or through machine, electronic elements including both hardware and software have to be checked. Machines have been integrated into human life.

5)
Gill, Satinder (2008) ‘Cognition, Communication and Interaction:
Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Interactive Technology’>http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-1-84628-926-2/#section=191072&page=3&locus=63(accessed 16 March 2011)

In chapter 26 of this book, named “On Human-Machine Symbiosis”, the author suggested how human and machine should be able to exist together and form a symbiotic relation. It is said that human acts as the root of machines. The electronic storage in the computer is drawn from human memory; programmes set in the machines are designed by technicians. The Human Centred System is suggested, which means the significance of human is greater than that of machines. Machines are used as a tool to meet human’s historical, cultural and societal requirements. Moreover, a clear division of tasks is stated. Human should be responsible for qualitative jobs while subjective judgment can be made; machines or computers are excellent in performing quantitative tasks which should be accurate and objective. This intensifies the boundary drawn between human and machines. Human and machines are performing jobs that each good at and cooperate well with each other. On top of that, on the one hand, man can make more time room to develop their creativity, making more flexibility and variety. On the other hand, machines can make repetitive tasks automated, which saves much more time. This is an ideal relationship.