Gamified Flows and the Sociotechnical Production of Automation

• In Event: Working with Algorithms, Thinking through Automation

Abstract

Recent advancements in the domains of artificial intelligence (AI), computer algorithms, and automation applications in several industries have generated hyperbolic discourses about the so-called disruptions on the horizon. Futurists envision fleets of driverless cars delivering human bodies, armies of robots taking over jobs, and advanced AI systems outgrowing their superfluous masters. Though such exaggerated claims extend far into the realm of science fiction, they nonetheless divert attention from the contexts in which these technologies already proliferate widely. In particular, the interfaces of a rapidly expanding attention capitalism and its gamified processes warrant increased scrutiny. Here, demands for uninterrupted service and mobility materialize as designs generating constant engagement with platforms that transform attention into revenues. The logic of accumulation desires the sociotechnical production of a subjectivity continuously participating in evermore data circuits, producing images of frictionless technology. Design features of attention capitalism comprise scores, (non)monetary rewards, and privileges controlling access. In several applications, habit-forming designs constitute key components of conveying images of on-demand service, automation, and, in some cases, AI. To guarantee smooth consumer experiences, these productive environments are increasingly designed around the concept of “flow,” a state Csikszentmihalyi (2009) describes as an “optimal experience” in which a constraining ego is suspended. A less optimistic rendition follows Schüll’s (2012) “machine zone,” a space in which addictive algorithms, ergonomics, and environments capture gamblers. The paper considers the different qualities of flow and the machine zone and their potential contributions to a more critical understanding of automation and artificial intelligence.

Author

• Mario Khreiche, University of Pittsburgh