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When BCIs have APIs: Design Fictions of Everyday Brain-Computer Interface Adoption

Published: 08 June 2018 Publication History

Abstract

In this paper, we use design fiction to explore the social implications for adoption of brain-computer interfaces (BCI). We argue that existing speculations about BCIs are incomplete: they discuss fears about radical changes in types of control, at the expense of discussing more traditional types of power that emerge in everyday experience, particularly via labor. We present a design fiction in which a BCI technology creates a new type of menial labor, using workers' unconscious reactions to assist algorithms in performing a sorting task. We describe how such a scenario could unfold through multiple sites of interaction: the design of an API, a programmer's question on StackOverflow, an internal memo from a dating company, and a set of forum posts about laborers' experience using the designed system. Through these fictions, we deepen and expand conversations around what kinds of (everyday) futures BCIs could create.

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    cover image ACM Conferences
    DIS '18: Proceedings of the 2018 Designing Interactive Systems Conference
    June 2018
    1418 pages
    ISBN:9781450351980
    DOI:10.1145/3196709
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    1. brain computer interface
    2. design fiction
    3. labor
    4. platforms

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