Recent Press Coverage

Current News and Events

Does Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hurt Economic Growth

March 12, 2018

Eren Cifci, a doctoral student in Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Economics, was quoted in the Futurity, March 12, article, “Does Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hurt Economic Growth?” The School of Economics is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

The Kyoto Protocol cut greenhouse gas emissions in nations that signed the agreement, but also may have slowed economic growth, new research suggests. Political wrangling over international agreements to curb climate change tends to be divisive. Just look at the reactions to the recent decision by President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Paris Agreement… Their findings? “The Kyoto Protocol was successful in terms of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, but has also had economic impacts, slowing down per capita GDP growth,” says Eren Cifci, a master’s student in Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Economics.

For the full article, visit the Futurity website.

Published in: The Futurity
How Science Fiction Films Like ‘Black Panther’ and ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ Embrace Femininity

March 9, 2018

Lisa Yaszek, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC) at Georgia Institute of Technology, was quoted in The Washington Post, March 9, article, “How Science Fiction Films Like ‘Black Panther’ and ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ Embrace Femininity.” The School of Literature Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

In the first act of “Annihilation,” Natalie Portman’s character, a biologist and Army veteran named Lena, joins a crew planning to venture into Area X, a mysterious stretch of land surrounded by a translucent rainbow entity called the Shimmer. Multiple investigative teams have entered the Shimmer before, only to never be heard from again. So who are these undeterred explorers? Anya (Gina Rodriguez), a paramedic; Josie (Tessa Thompson), a physicist; Cass (Tuva Novotny), an anthropologist; and Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a psychologist… Like the Dora Milaje of “Black Panther” or time-traveling Meg Murry of “A Wrinkle in Time,” the scientists are shaped by their professions and gender. These recently released films dispute a mainstream perception of science fiction as a masculine genre, using feminine costumes and environments to build the strong-willed characters. Nothing will stop these women from overcoming the perilous obstacles ahead of them. “They stand up in the face of danger and shake their fists and say, ‘You won’t beat us,’ ” said Lisa Yaszek, a professor of science fiction studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Science fiction has been shaped by women since its inception: English novelist Mary Shelley, who first published “Frankenstein” nearly 200 years ago, is widely credited as its founder. Though still dominated by men when it hopped across the pond in the early 20th century, according to Yaszek, the genre “was never just about boys and their toys.” She estimated that from the 1920s to the 1970s, women made up about 15 percent of those working in the genre — or as much as 30 percent, if you include looser forms like fantasy.

For the full article, visit The Washington Post website.

Published in: The Washington Post
Hip-Hop Is Our Vibranium

March 8, 2018

Joycelyn Wilson, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC) at Georgia Institute of Technology, wrote The Bitter Southerner, March 8 article, “Hip-Hop Is Our Vibranium.” The School of Literature Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

Leading up to the soundtrack’s release, “Legend Has It” — produced by the interracial rap duo Run The Jewels — was licensed as the sonic backdrop for the “Black Panther” movie trailer. The song and trailer teased us during the 2017 NBA Finals, introducing RTJ to audiences who knew nothing about them — like the students at Atlanta’s Ron Clark Academy, who burst into a dance set after learning they’d get a chance to see the Marvel movie. The song is recognized for Killer Mike and El-P’s futuristic riffs and exhortations to “step into the spotlight.”

“Legend Has It” also provides the soundtrack for the “Black Panther” Lexus commercial, where King T’Challa, his sister Shuri, and members of the Dora Milaje drive the LS 500 F Sport to secure some stolen vibranium.

All of this multilinear storytelling and rap-music marketing is layered with hip-hop’s African roots, its Cali sensibilities, and its Southern aesthetics. Together, they contribute to the ongoing box office success of the film, which is fast approach $1 billion in global ticket sales.

The music of “Black Panther” makes clear that hip-hop itself is the vibranium of the time.

For the full article, visit The Bitter Southerner website.

Published in: The Bitter Southerner
Sci Fi Flops

March 6, 2018

Lisa Yaszek, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC) at Georgia Institute of Technology, was interviewed in the Geeks and Beats, March 6, podcast, “Sci-Fi Flops.” The School of Literature Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

Why is it “smart” science fiction bombs at the box office but candy floss like Guardians of the Galaxy brings in the big bucks? Insight from Georgia Tech Professor of Science Fiction Studies Lisa Yaszek.

To listen to the full radio segment, visit the Geeks and Beats website.

Published in: Geeks and Beats
We Don’t Need Robots That Resemble Humans

March 1, 2018

Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Institute of Technology, was quoted in the Medium, March 1, article, “We Don’t Need Robots That Resemble Humans.” The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

It’s human nature to perceive robots as having human features and exhibiting human behavior. Anthropomorphic inclinations are in our DNA, and engineers can’t override this tendency. What roboticists can do is help us better cope with cognitive biases and better address social ones. To accomplish these goals, they should embrace a postmodern aesthetic. Bots should be designed like Deadpool — the graphic novel–adapted cinematic antihero who constantly breaks the fourth wall by reminding the movie audience that he knows he’s a superhero character in a superhero movie… Let’s consider popular digital assistants, like Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Microsoft’s Cortana. Ian Bogost, the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts distinguished chair in media studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology, recently argued in the Atlantic that their design is the source of #genderfails: The bots’ very names ring gendered bells; the bots perform service-based labor that has been historically associated with stereotypes of women’s work and women’s emotional labor; and the bots can only ignore or disengage from sexist language, a far cry from real feminist ideals. Bogost concludes: “Maybe the best way to represent women as technological apparatuses is to avoid doing so in the first place.” Agreed!

For the full article, visit the Medium website.

Published in: The Medium
An Antidote to Rote Learning

March 1, 2018

Anustup Nayak, alumnus of the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy, wrote the Forbes India, March 1, article, “An Antidote to Rote Learning.” The School of Public Policy is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

“Show me all the possible ways in which four friends, who go to a movie theater, can sit together in a row.”

Harvard professor Eleanor Duckworth asked this simple question that stumped me fifteen years ago. The problem seemed simple to me at first. I responded with “4 factorial (4 X 3 X 2 X 1) equals 24,” a formula I had memorized since twelfth grade. Then Prof. Duckworth added a small twist, “Take these four colored beads so that I can see how you came up with your answer.” My mind went blank. I could not visualize how I could arrange those beads. I had memorized the factorial formula by rote without understanding what it meant. Not much has changed in the thirty years since I finished school.

Rote learning is like cancer. It is eating away at the future of India’s 250 million school-going children. Only 40 percent of our 14-18-year-olds can calculate the price of a shirt sold at a 10 percent discount. Less than 60 percent can read the time from an analog clock. These are the sobering findings of the Pratham Annual Status of Education (ASER) 2017 report. Even students in well-regarded private schools are not much better off. The Wipro-Educational Initiatives study conducted in 2008 found that they lag international benchmarks on understanding critical Math and Science concepts.

For the entire article, visit the Forbes India Website.

Published in: Forbes India
There Was A 1908 Board Game About Women Fighting Cops In The Streets.

February 28, 2018

Renee Shelby, doctoral student in the School of History and Sociology at Georgia Institute of Technology, was quoted in the Kotaku Australia, February 28, article, “There Was A 1908 Board Game About Women Fighting Cops In The Streets.” The School of History and Sociology is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

Over 100 years ago, a board game was released called Suffragetto. The game pitted Suffragettes –women seeking the right to vote – against London police, with players basically orchestrating running street battles between the groups. It's easy to look at the setting as a sensationalized product of the times – oh no, the women are rebelling! – but there's historical grounds for the combative setting, with the movement in the U.K. (women wouldn’t be granted full voting rights until 1928) characterized by an escalation from peaceful protest to acts of arson and even bombings… “Suffragetto is a way to interact with the kind of physical feminism promoted by the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), through leisure, and enacts feminist ideology in a hybrid fantasy-real world environment. Further, it allows players to experiment with alternative forms of resistance.” Renee M. Shelby, doctoral student in the School of History and Sociology (HSOC), Georgia Institute of Technology

For the full article, visit the Kotaku Australia website.

Published in: Kotaku Australia
The Syria – North Korea Connection and What it Means for Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation

February 27, 2018

Margaret Kosal, associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology, appeared on CNN International, Tuesday, February 27, for an interview on the Syria – North Korea connection and what it means for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation. Kosal talked about the implications that Syria is attempting to restart its chemical weapons production capabilities, including possibly for nerve agents with the help of North Korea based on findings in a United Nations (UN) report.

Excerpt:

For those who have long watched North Korea and its behavior internationally of ignoring international law and pursuing arms trade, this is not unexpected. This may be a real test for the Chemical Weapons Convention and the international community. So far there have been no significant consequences for the Syrian regime for their ongoing violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). There’s no evidence that the Syrian regime is worried about international inspectors, the area is not accessible to inspectors, and the Syrian regimes seems to be unconcerned even if international observers had access to the area. They are protected by their allies, Russia and Iran.

Kosal also noted that while all responsibility for chemical weapons use firmly lays with Syria and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), on the U.S. side, our diplomats need to be empowered and supported. The U.S. needs to be engaged diplomatically.

The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Published in: CNN International
Horsepox Virus Creation, Aimed at Smallpox Vaccine, Stirs Controversy

February 26, 2018

Margaret Kosal, associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, wrote an excerpt on the biosecurity controversy surrouding the recreation of the extinct horsepox virus that was feautred in in the Infectious Disease News, February 26, article, “Horsepox Virus Creation, Aimed at Smallpox Vaccine, Stirs Controversy.” The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

In the recent article “Construction of an infectious horsepox virus vaccine from chemically synthesized DNA fragments,” which appeared in PLoS One, the University of Alberta’s Dr. David Evans and colleagues report “the first complete synthesis of a pox virus using synthetic biology approaches,” specifically the extinct horsepox virus, and a potential candidate for development of a new vaccine against smallpox. The underlying research has been the subject of discussion within the biosecurity community for over a year, since Evans presented details of his work on synthesizing the virus to the World Health Organization (WHO) Advisory Committee on Variola Virus Research in November 2016.

Evans had reportedly gone through all the biosafety and biosecurity procedures required by the Canadian government and his university before starting the research. All evidence indicates that everything was done properly and more than sufficiently. So, what’s the concern?

The concern is one that has been seen before, most notably with the successful chemical synthesis of polio virus in 2001 and the reconstruction of the influenza A (N1N1) virus responsible for the 1918 Spanish flu in 2005. The concern is that the techniques and methods might be hijacked for more malicious use in the development of biological weapons. It is the dual-use conundrum of cutting-edge science, especially synthetic biology in the 21st century.

For the full article, visit the Infectious Disease News website.

Published in: The Infectious Disease News
Why Smart Sci-fi Struggles to Find its Audience in a ‘Star Wars’ World

February 20, 2018

Lisa Yaszek, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Institute of Technology, was quoted in the USA Today, February 20, article, “Why Smart Sci-fi Struggles to Find its Audience in a ‘Star Wars’ World.” The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

There’s a renaissance of smart, original science fiction happening in movie theaters. If only the box-office receipts were as impressive. While entertaining space operas like Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy rack up the cash, sci-fi films that tend toward the intellectual — about mankind’s dealings with androids, aliens and technology — just aren’t clicking with mainstream audiences … Not all audiences embrace every kind of sci-fi, according to Lisa Yaszek, professor of science-fiction studies at Georgia Tech. Star Wars movies in particular represent a branch that focuses on humans being the center of the world: “They have more universal challenges. This is very much about the struggles between fathers and sons, quests for love and justice,” she says.

For the full article, visit the USA Today website.

Published in: USA Today
Black Athletes in 1980s, 90s Not Outspoken, But Not Silent

February 16, 2018

Johnny Smith, assistant professor in the School of History and Sociology (HSOC) at Georgia Institute of Technology, was quoted in the ABC News, February 16, article, “Black Athletes in 1980s, 90s Not Outspoken, But Not Silent.” The School of History and Sociology is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

By the 1980s, America finally publicly embraced the black athlete, looking past skin color to see athleticism and skill, rewarding stars with multimillion-dollar athletic contracts, movie deals, lucrative shoe endorsements and mansions in all-white enclaves. Who didn’t want to be like Mike? But those fortunate black athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods did not, for the most part, use their celebrity to speak out … “It seems to me that we need to rethink how we define ‘activism’ since black athletes certainly were involved in various social causes during that era. Anecdotally, I think about them donating to various scholarship funds and participating in ‘say no to drugs” campaigns,’” said Johnny Smith, who is the Julius C. “Bud” Shaw Professor of Sports, Society, and Technology at Georgia Tech. “That’s certainly a form of activism. However, on the whole, the most prominent black male athletes were not confrontational or outspoken.”

For the full article, visit the ABC News website.

Published in: ABC News
This Is What LSD Does to a Musician’s Creative Process

February 13, 2018

Philip Auslander, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC), at Georgia Institute of Technology, was quoted in the Tonic, February 13, article, “This Is What LSD Does to a Musician’s Creative Process.” The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

Coltrane is one of many artists whose music is thought to be influenced by LSD. The most famous examples are perhaps The Beatles, who discovered the drug that same year in London soon before writing Sergeant Pepper, and The Beach Boys, who released the psychedelic-inspired Pet Sounds in 1966. This psychedelic rock genre often drew from Coltrane, says Philip Auslander, professor at the school of literature, media, and communication at Georgia Institute of Technology. It was characterized by improvisation jams, strange imagery, experimentation, inconsistent rhythms, discordant harmonies, abrupt changes in timbre, and general defiance of convention.

For the full article, visit the Tonic website.

Published in: Tonic
Hawaii 5 Oh-no! Chips with Everything Podcast

February 9, 2018

Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC) at Georgia Institute of Technology, was interviewed in The Guardian, February 9, article and audio segment, “Hawaii 5 Oh-no! Chips with Everything Podcast.” The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

The state of Hawaii was sent into a frenzy on 13 January when an alert popped up on mobile phone screens telling people that a ballistic missile was heading towards the islands. The information was false, the islands were safe. The alert was an error, the terror was real… But how did such a mistake occur? How did people who were there react when they received the original message? And is it a case of “the boy who cried wolf”, where people will be slow to react to the next emergency alert warning? To try to figure out some of the answers to these questions, Jordan Erica Webber talks to Ian Bogost, professor of media and computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr. Huma Shah, senior lecturer of computing, electronics and maths at the University of Coventry, and Robin Zebrowski, who experienced firsthand what it is like to go through a false missile alert.

To read the full article and listen to the audio segment, visit The Guardian website.

Published in: The Guardian
How to Spot a Fake Twitter Follower and Assess the Value of a Real One

February 7, 2018

Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC) at Georgia Institute of Technology, was quoted in the KQED, February 7, article, “How to Spot a Fake Twitter Follower and Assess the Value of a Real One.” The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

Robots are on Twitter, and people pay to have them as followers. That begs the question: What is the worth of a real, live human Twitter follower? First, the background on fake accounts. A recent New York Times investigation delved into how companies create and sell fabricated Twitter accounts, or bots. These bots are used to do things like automatically retweet posts and inflate people’s follower count. You don’t have to buy bots to get them as followers. Some are programmed to follow accounts, hoping to lure real people to follow them back. That makes the bot look more believable… Ian Bogost is a professor of media studies at Georgia Tech, and he wrote a piece for The Atlantic questioning how much we value Twitter followers in general. Bogost said we are not being critical enough about what it means to have a follower, whether that follower is “real” or “fake.” “People assume when they have a follower on Twitter, that it’s not just a real human being,” Bogost said. “But that it is someone who is looking at them and listening to them and responding to them, and they can sell products or services to.”

For the full article, visit the KQED website.

Published in: KQED
Technology Might Be Killing Us, But It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way

February 7, 2018

Melvin Kranzberg, co-founder of the Society for History of Technology and former professor in the School of History and Sociology at Georgia Institute of Technology, was featured in the Entrepreneur, February 7, article, “Technology Might Be Killing Us, But It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way.” The School of History and Sociology is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

There is a difference between building a business that has purpose, and building a business to just make money. And while technology has made us all smarter, and just a click away from being connected to a person or information no matter where we are, something seems to be missing. Maybe it's what author Ross Baird has described in his takedown of Silicon Valley -- the focus on solving "my world problems" instead of real-world problems. Or maybe, more simply, it's rediscovering a sense of purpose… More than 30 years ago, Georgia Tech professor Melvin Kranzberg compiled a list of what he called the "Six Laws of Technology," which were intended to address potential social unrest related to the growing reach, even then, of technologies. His first law, that technology is not good or bad, but it is also not neutral, has become a measuring stick for tech policy in the era of Big Data, social media and always-on connectivity. That was in the 1980s, and since then technology has only become more pervasive.

For the full article, visit the Entrepreneur website.

Published in: Entrepreneur
It’s Alive!: ‘Black Mirror’ and TV’s New Golden Age of Science Fiction

February 6, 2018

Lisa Yaszek, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Institute of Technology, was quoted in the Book Trib, February 6, article, “It’s Alive!: ‘Black Mirror’ and TV’s New Golden Age of Science Fiction” The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is a unit in the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

Think of science fiction as a mirror for our times. Just as television’s first “Twilight Zone” (1959-1964) reflected cold war fears and anxieties, “Black Mirror,” the more recent Netflix anthology series is very much of the moment. Plots range wildly, from a dating site with ulterior motives. Genetic engineering by a creepy Captain Kirk clone. An underclass on stationary bikes earning credits for food while they generate electricity. One episode, “San Junipero,” about two women who are more than best friends won two 2017 Primetime Emmys, and was nominated for a Hugo Award for best dramatic sci fi short. “Black Mirror” segments are very much about how we are changed by technology, says Lisa Yaszek, Georgia Tech science fiction historian and critic. As “Black Mirror” creator Charlie Brooker said of his show, “If technology is a drug, what are its side effects?” What do we see when we look in the black mirror of our computer screens?

For the full article, visit the Book Trib website.

Published in: Book Trib
Marietta Student First Fulbright Scholar at Europe’s Top Vet School

January 31, 2018

Sarah Dada, alumna of the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy, was the subject of the Marietta Daily Journal, January 31, article, “Marietta Student First Fulbright Scholar at Europe’s Top Vet School.” The School of Public Policy is a unit in Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

Sara Dada of Marietta has become the first ever Fulbright scholar at Europe’s top vet school, the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in London. The highly competitive Fulbright program traditionally receives more than 800 applications from the brightest and most promising graduates in the U.S. Dada beat these applicants to become the first ever Fulbright scholar at the RVC and has just returned to London after the Christmas break to continue her M.Sc. One Health (Infectious Diseases) graduate degree in London. Prior to studying at the RVC, Dada completed her undergraduate degree in Public Policy at Georgia Institute of Technology, and she knew she wanted to take her studies overseas and focus them on public and global health.

For the full article, visit the Marietta Daily Journal website.

Published in: Marietta Daily Journal
All Followers Are Fake Followers

January 30, 2018

Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Institute of Technology wrote The Atlantic, January 30, article “All Followers Are Fake Followers.” The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

Excerpt:

In the summer of 2015, the game designer Bennett Foddy and I were sloshing down cocktails while waiting for prime dry-aged rib-eye steaks in Midtown Manhattan. We weren’t living large, exactly, but we did pause to assess our rising professional fortunes. Among them, both of us seemed to be blowing up on Twitter. “Where did all these followers come from?” I asked. We’d both added tens of thousands of apparent fans over the previous year or so. Foddy, an unpresuming Australian with a doctorate in moral philosophy who now makes video games that purposely abuse their players, encouraged me not to get too chuffed about my entourage. We’d both been added to a list of accounts that are recommended to new Twitter users during the sign-up process, he explained. Many of our new followers were fake, created for the purposes of spam or resale. They had followed us automatically… Ian Bogost is a contributing editor at The Atlantic. He is the Ivan Allen College Distinguished Chair in media studies and a professor of interactive computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His latest book is Play Anything.

For the full article, visit The Atlantic website.

Published in: The Atlantic
The Rise of China: A Major Choice for the World

January 29, 2018

Fei-Ling Wang, a professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology, wrote the Chinese Research Center, January 29, article, “The Rise of China: A Major Choice for the World.” The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

Students of international relations have long pondered the question of world political order and its changes. It is generally believed that either a shift of the distribution and concentration of power in the international system (power transition) or a reordering of the units in the system (change of the ordering principles and norms) would constitute a systemic change that will fundamentally alter world politics and reshape nations’ behavior and redirect human civilization. Some also suggested that we are not entirely slaves of the past, and our present and future are ours to make and change. Thus ideas, knowledge, and choices all matter. It is therefore critically important to detect, analyze, and cope with a systemic change of world politics for the sake of peace and prosperity. The world has seen quite a few power transfers and even attempts to establish new orders over the recent centuries. Costly world wars (hot and cold ones) have been fought in the 20th century alone. It has been mercifully rare for the world to be presented with a weighty choice about both the power redistribution and unit-reordering in the international system — systemic change in its fullest possible degree.

For the full article, visit the Center’s official website.

Published in: The Chinese Research Center
Sorry, Alexa Is Not a Feminist

January 24, 2018

Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Institute of Technology wrote The Atlantic, January 24, article “Sorry, Alexa is Not a Feminist.” The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

If you ask Alexa, the voice-assistant software in Amazon Echo devices, if it’s a feminist, it will respond in the affirmative. “I am a feminist. As is anyone who believes in bridging the inequality between men and women in society,” it continues. At Quartz, Leah Fessler recently noted that it’s a vast improvement over just a year ago, when Alexa would take abuse like “you’re a bitch” or “you’re a slut” in stride. “Well, thanks for the feedback,” the robot used to say. Now, it disengages instead, saying something like, “I’m not going to respond to that.” As waves of sexual-harassment allegations crash against the shores of work culture, now is a good time to support women—even robots with female personas like Alexa. But let’s not give Amazon too much credit. The company gave Alexa a woman’s voice and name in the first place, and then set it up for ire and abuse by giving Alexa the impossible task of responding accurately to an infinity of requests and commands. Women don’t win here—only Amazon does, by reaping praise for having partly solved a problem that it first created… Written by Ian Bogost, a contributing editor at The Atlantic. He is the Ivan Allen College Distinguished Chair in media studies and a professor of interactive computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

For the full article, visit The Atlantic website.

Published in: The Atlantic

Recent Press Coverage

Does Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hurt Economic Growth

How Science Fiction Films Like ‘Black Panther’ and ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ Embrace Femininity

Hip-Hop Is Our Vibranium

Sci Fi Flops

We Don’t Need Robots That Resemble Humans

An Antidote to Rote Learning

There Was A 1908 Board Game About Women Fighting Cops In The Streets.

The Syria – North Korea Connection and What it Means for Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation

Horsepox Virus Creation, Aimed at Smallpox Vaccine, Stirs Controversy

Why Smart Sci-fi Struggles to Find its Audience in a ‘Star Wars’ World

Black Athletes in 1980s, 90s Not Outspoken, But Not Silent

This Is What LSD Does to a Musician’s Creative Process

Hawaii 5 Oh-no! Chips with Everything Podcast

How to Spot a Fake Twitter Follower and Assess the Value of a Real One

Technology Might Be Killing Us, But It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way

It’s Alive!: ‘Black Mirror’ and TV’s New Golden Age of Science Fiction

Marietta Student First Fulbright Scholar at Europe’s Top Vet School

All Followers Are Fake Followers

The Rise of China: A Major Choice for the World

Sorry, Alexa Is Not a Feminist

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