Becoming Human? Ableism and Control in Detroit: Become Human and the Implications for Human-Machine Communication

Abstract

In human-machine communication (HMC), machines are communicative subjects in the creation of meaning. The Computers are Social Actors and constructivist approaches to HMC postulate that humans communicate with machines as if they were people. From this perspective, communication is understood as heavily scripted where humans mindlessly apply human-to-human scripts in HMC. We argue that a critical approach to communication scripts reveals how humans may rely on ableism as a means of sense-making in their relationships with machines. Using the choose-your-own-adventure game Detroit: Become Human as a case study, we demonstrate (a) how ableist communication scripts render machines as both less-than-human and superhuman and (b) how such scripts manifest in control and cyborg anxiety. We conclude with theoretical and design implications for rescripting ableist communication scripts.

Machine vision situations: Tracing distributed agency

“…For instance, by including the player in the above situation, we would not only introduce a set of new actions, but also new tensions, meanings and potential readings of the situation. In the case of Detroit: Become Human , this inclusion could bring out issues of race and structural oppression, since in this game, androids are treated like an oppressed minority in ways that mirrors the struggles of racialized minorities in the U.S ( Dehnert & Leach, 2021 ; Leach & Dehnert, 2021 ; Schubert, 2021 ), and the inclusion of the player as an actor could bring up interesting tensions and contradictions between the player’s identity and experiences and that of the player character. However, in this project, we decided to solely include the actors represented within the work, which means that the database does not register the player or the console here, but the combined action of distributed agents, as represented by Connor.…”

Moral Minds in Gaming

“…Furthermore, the game features three different playable avatars and it has been shown theoretically and empirically that avatars can model self-presence, identification, and behavioral outcomes (e.g., Ratan et al, 2020). Lastly, the concept of dehumanization has been applied to moral engagement in video games (e.g., Hartmann & Vorderer, 2010), which is reflected in DBH by featuring both human and android NPCs, who have enhanced superhuman capabilities but are less-than-human machines lacking basic rights (Dehnert & Leach, 2021).…”

“…In their critical analysis, Pallavicini et al (2020) credited the game with a focus on storytelling that allows for emotional engagement, a great range of interactivity that leads to meaningful choices and consequences, and the possibility to embody different avatars in an empathic way. Similarly, Dehnert and Leach (2021) selected the game as a case study on human–machine communication due to its highly interactive nature and the opportunity to experience identification and parasocial relationships. Furthermore, Craig et al (2020) derived from semistructured interviews after playing DBH that both emotional as well as strategic decision-making was prevalent.…”