{"id":29,"date":"2021-01-17T16:38:41","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T15:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/?page_id=29"},"modified":"2021-07-13T21:06:18","modified_gmt":"2021-07-13T19:06:18","slug":"talk-to-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Talk to me \u2013 Disembodied Voices and the Politics of human-machine Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignwide is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Talk to me, you&#039;ll understand\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/392517065?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:34px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"alignwide has-large-font-size wp-block-heading\" id=\"1\">In this project we took a closer look at voice assistants, smart speakers and chatbots: Why are most voice assistants female? Why do artificial assistants have to be humanized at all? Why do they live in cylinders? What are the social and political dimensions of this technology? How can we address issues like careless handling of user data, enormous consumption of resources such as energy and raw materials, and exploitation of human labor? Can strategies of speculation be used as a tool of feminist critique in dealing with voice assistants?<br>In interdisciplinary teams the students developed new, diverse concepts with the support of a mix of experimental formats, speculative elements, applied practice and in-depth theory. Our goal was to unlearn common assumptions of technology \u2013 and in the process to question concepts of language, gender and design.<br>A prerequisite for this is a critical engagement with theories and concepts from the fields of voice tech, machine bias, machine ethics, feminist science-technology studies and privacy politics.<br>There were workshops on how to prototype chatbots, how to train language models with machine learning and how to successfully establish interdisciplinary collaborative work.<br>Through our practice-based research, the students explored the following questions: What might alternative ways of developing and designing voice assistants look like? Where is the pragmatic-useful, where is the poetic-narrative potential of voice assistants? How can we bring it to light? How can voice be given a form? Which alternatives are worth exploring?The outcome of the semester will be designs, experimental series, prototypes, performances, devices, interfaces, but also a deep theoretical understanding of chatbots, voice assistants, bias \u2026..<br>The participants were industrial design students from Burg Halle University of Art and Design and students of applied media and culture studies from the University of Applied Sciences Merseburg.<br>They tried out interdisciplinary work and sharpened their own skills in joint projects with their counterparts. As representatives of different disciplines, the students brought their respective competencies to the joint project. The aim of the project was to work out questions and methods together in interdisciplinary teams. The complexity of the topic required the networking of individual skills and subject-specific knowledge to form a collective pool of knowledge and experience. In addition, the focus was on developing a common language that enables a process of communication across disciplinary boundaries.<br>As an extra we regularly came together in a reading club to further explore theoretical frameworks of speculation, voice technologies and history of technology through an intersectional feminist lense.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"alignwide wp-block-heading\" id=\"talk-workshops\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/talks\/\">Talks<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<p class=\"has-extra-large-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/talks\/\">Alexa Steinbr\u00fcck \u2013 Einf\u00fchrung in Voice Technologies<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<p class=\"has-extra-large-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/talks\/#isabella-hermann\">Isabella Hermann \u2013 Produkte in der Science-Fiction zwischen Inspiration, Absolution und Metapher<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<p class=\"has-extra-large-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/talks\/#libby-heaney\">Libby Heaney \u2013 Noisy Chatterbots<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<p class=\"has-extra-large-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/talks\/#haunted-machines\">Natalie Kane &amp; Tobias Revell \u2013 Haunted Machines<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-extra-large-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/talks\/#ottonie-roeder\">Ottonie von Roeder stellt ihre Arbeit vor<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"alignwide wp-block-heading\" id=\"talk-talks\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/workshops\/\">Workshops<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<p class=\"has-extra-large-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/workshops\/\">Strategien f\u00fcr interdisziplin\u00e4re Zusammenarbeit mit Sophie Thurner<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<p class=\"has-extra-large-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/workshops\/#gpt2\">GPT2 Sprachmodelle mit Runway ML trainieren<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<p class=\"has-extra-large-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/workshops\/#chatbot-prototyping\">Chatbot Prototyping<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"alignwide wp-block-heading\" id=\"talk-studienarbeiten\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/student-projects\/\">Student Projects<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"alignwide has-extra-large-font-size wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/student-projects\/#response\">response \u2013 Lara Kuom, Lena Eichhorn, Sasha Becker<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"alignwide has-extra-large-font-size wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/student-projects\/#talking-overflow\">Talking Overflow \u2013 Charlotte Bolinski<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"alignwide has-extra-large-font-size wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/student-projects\/#christoph\">Christoph \u2013 Yang Ni<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"alignwide has-extra-large-font-size wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/student-projects\/#sound-medium\">Sound Needs Medium to Travel<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"alignwide has-extra-large-font-size wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/student-projects\/#stereolith\">2021: Stereolith \u2013&nbsp;Joris Grahl, Konrad Kosse<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignwide is-style-twentytwentyone-separator-thick\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this project we took a closer look at voice assistants, smart speakers and chatbots: Why are most voice assistants female? Why do artificial assistants have to be humanized at all? Why do they live in cylinders? What are the social and political dimensions of this technology? How can we address issues like careless handling&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/projects\/talk-to-me\/\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Talk to me \u2013 Disembodied Voices and the Politics of human-machine Conversation<\/span> weiterlesen<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":55,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-29","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":69,"href":"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299,"href":"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions\/299"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/55"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.burg-halle.de\/myhomeismyburg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}