Yolande Strengers's guest appearances

Yolande Strengers

Town Hall Seattle Science Series

Liquid Architecture

Let's Talk Robotics

Jenny Kennedy

Lawrence Weschler

David Eagleman

Michael Pollan

Jane McGonigal

Emma Marris

Anne Biklé

David Sinclair

Paul Hawken

Bill Schutt

Charles Fishman

Jonathan Safran Foer

Temple Grandin

Raj Patel

Maryn McKenna

OwlTail

In today’s episode I have the honour of speaking with Associate Professor Yolande Strengers, who won the award in the category AI in Innovation for the Women in AI Australia and New Zealand Award 2021!Yolande is a digital sociologist and human-computer interaction scholar investigating the sustainability and gender effects of digital, emerging and smart technologies. At Monash University, she leads the energy futures theme in the Emerging Technologies Research Lab, which undertakes critical interdisciplinary and international research into the social, cultural and experiential dimensions of the design, use and futures of new and emerging technologies.Yolande works with qualitative and digital ethnographic methods, theories of social practice and technofeminism to understand how people (and sometimes their pets) are incorporating new devices and technologies into their everyday lives and homes. Her research is applied in focus, and has involved a range of research partners to inform current visions, designs, platforms and policies for emerging technologies in the energy, sustainability and smart home sectors. Past and current partners include ANZ Bank, Ausgrid, AusNet Services, Energy Consumers Australia and Intel Corporation.Yolande is author of Smart energy technologies in everyday life (Palgrave MacMillan 2013), Social practices and dynamic non-humans (2018), and over 50 journal articles and conference papers. She holds a PhD from RMIT University (Social Science) a Masters in International Urban and Environmental Management (RMIT University) and a Bachelor of Arts (Deans Scholars Program, Monash University).Yolande is the winner of the Women in AI in Australia and New Zealand category- Link to The Smart Wife: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-smart-wife-9780262044370- Research paper on 'What can HCI [human-computer interaction] learn from sexual consent?': https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3411764.3445107Contact Yolande at yolande.strengers@monash.edu.

In today’s episode I have the honour of speaking with Associate Professor Yolande Strengers, who won the award in the category AI in Innovation for the Women in AI Australia and New Zealand Award 2021!Yolande is a digital sociologist and human-computer interaction scholar investigating the sustainability and gender effects of digital, emerging and smart technologies. At Monash University, she leads the energy futures theme in the Emerging Technologies Research Lab, which undertakes critical interdisciplinary and international research into the social, cultural and experiential dimensions of the design, use and futures of new and emerging technologies.Yolande works with qualitative and digital ethnographic methods, theories of social practice and technofeminism to understand how people (and sometimes their pets) are incorporating new devices and technologies into their everyday lives and homes. Her research is applied in focus, and has involved a range of research partners to inform current visions, designs, platforms and policies for emerging technologies in the energy, sustainability and smart home sectors. Past and current partners include ANZ Bank, Ausgrid, AusNet Services, Energy Consumers Australia and Intel Corporation.Yolande is author of Smart energy technologies in everyday life (Palgrave MacMillan 2013), Social practices and dynamic non-humans (2018), and over 50 journal articles and conference papers. She holds a PhD from RMIT University (Social Science) a Masters in International Urban and Environmental Management (RMIT University) and a Bachelor of Arts (Deans Scholars Program, Monash University).Yolande is the winner of the Women in AI in Australia and New Zealand category- Link to The Smart Wife: <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-smart-wife-9780262044370" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-smart-wife-9780262044370</a>- Research paper on 'What can HCI [human-computer interaction] learn from sexual consent?': <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3411764.3445107" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3411764.3445107</a>Contact Yolande at yolande.strengers@monash.edu.

Let's talk robotics with Associate Prof Yolande Strengers

Yolande Strengers and Jenny Kennedy provide a “reboot” manifesta in their book The Smart Wife: Why Siri, Alexa, and Other Smart Home Devices Need a Feminist Reboot, which lays out their proposals for improving the design and social effects of digital voice assistants, social robots, sex robots, and other AI arriving in the home. They talk to artist Sean Dockray, legal scholar James Parker, and curator Joel Stern about their research surrounding the book. https://machinelistening.exposed/curriculum/Financial support from patrons at any level has a resounding impact on our work. You can support Liquid Architecture’s weekly podcast and our online journal Disclaimer, for new thinking and writing on listening and sound through a Patreon subscription, for as little as $5 a month. https://www.patreon.com/liquidarchitectureFor the past 20 years, Liquid Architecture has been Australia’s leading organisation for artists working with sound and listening. LA investigates the sounds themselves, but also the ideas communicated about, and the meaning of, sound and listening.

Yolande Strengers and Jenny Kennedy provide a “reboot” manifesta in their book The Smart Wife: Why Siri, Alexa, and Other Smart Home Devices Need a Feminist Reboot, which lays out their proposals for improving the design and social effects of digital voice assistants, social robots, sex robots, and other AI arriving in the home. They talk to artist Sean Dockray, legal scholar James Parker, and curator Joel Stern about their research surrounding the book. https://machinelistening.exposed/curriculum/ Financial support from patrons at any level has a resounding impact on our work. You can support Liquid Architecture’s weekly podcast and our online journal Disclaimer, for new thinking and writing on listening and sound through a Patreon subscription, for as little as $5 a month. <a href="https://www.patreon.com/liquidarchitecture" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/liquidarchitecture</a> For the past 20 years, Liquid Architecture has been Australia’s leading organisation for artists working with sound and listening. LA investigates the sounds themselves, but also the ideas communicated about, and the meaning of, sound and listening.

Yolande Strengers and Jenny Kennedy (Machine Listening)

Meet the Smart Wife—at your service, an eclectic collection of feminized AI, robotic, and smart devices. Maybe she goes by Siri or Alexa, lives in your Google Home, or is a virtual anime hologram named Hikari Azuma. These feminized digital assistants are friendly and flirty—but what impact are they having on gender equity?  Digital sociologist Yolande Strengers and media and communications expert Jenny Kennedy joined us via livestream to share findings from their book The Smart Wife: Why Siri, Alexa, and Other Smart Home Devices Need a Feminist Reboot. They examined the emergence of digital devices that carry out “wifework”—domestic responsibilities that have traditionally fallen to (human) wives—and are designed in male-dominated industries that have made the 1950s housewife the principal prototype for virtual helpers. They asserted that it is time to give the Smart Wife a reboot, to address how the design of gendered devices reinscribes outdated and unfounded stereotypes. Don’t miss this vital conversation with Strengers and Kennedy about how advanced technology is taking us backwards on gender equity—and a proposal for change that would promote a revaluing of femininity in society. Yolande Strengers is a digital sociologist and human-computer interaction scholar. She is Associate Professor of Digital Technology and Society in the Emerging Technologies Research Lab at Monash University, Melbourne. Jenny Kennedy is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University, Melbourne. Her projects currently focus on digital inclusion of low-income populations, and the gendering of AI and automation in home environments. Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9780262044370  Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To make a donation or become a member click here. 

Meet the Smart Wife—at your service, an eclectic collection of feminized AI, robotic, and smart devices. Maybe she goes by Siri or Alexa, lives in your Google Home, or is a virtual anime hologram named Hikari Azuma. These feminized digital assistants are friendly and flirty—but what impact are they having on gender equity? <a href="https://townhallseattle.org/event/yolande-strengers-and-jenny-kennedy-livestream/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Digital sociologist Yolande Strengers and media and communications expert Jenny Kennedy joined us</a> via livestream to share findings from their book The Smart Wife: Why Siri, Alexa, and Other Smart Home Devices Need a Feminist Reboot. They examined the emergence of digital devices that carry out “wifework”—domestic responsibilities that have traditionally fallen to (human) wives—and are designed in male-dominated industries that have made the 1950s housewife the principal prototype for virtual helpers. They asserted that it is time to give the Smart Wife a reboot, to address how the design of gendered devices reinscribes outdated and unfounded stereotypes. Don’t miss this vital conversation with Strengers and Kennedy about how advanced technology is taking us backwards on gender equity—and a proposal for change that would promote a revaluing of femininity in society. Yolande Strengers is a digital sociologist and human-computer interaction scholar. She is Associate Professor of Digital Technology and Society in the Emerging Technologies Research Lab at Monash University, Melbourne. Jenny Kennedy is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University, Melbourne. Her projects currently focus on digital inclusion of low-income populations, and the gendering of AI and automation in home environments. Buy the Book: <a href="https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9780262044370" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9780262044370</a> Presented by <a href="https://townhallseattle.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Town Hall Seattle</a>. To make a donation or become a member <a href="https://townhallseattle.org/support/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a>.

114. Yolande Strengers and Jenny Kennedy: Why Siri and Alexa Need a Feminist Reboot