It is no longer science ction to imagine a world in which my espresso-machine will communicate with my alarm clock to ensure I will get up at 7:00 AM by being lured into the kitchen by the stimulating smell of coffee, while the Nano-chips in my body -in consultation with my fridge and calendar of course- decide whether to make an appointment with my local gym or to order some of my favourite chocolate. The world is becoming increasingly enchanted. Third, I claim that social robots are parasitic to deeply ingrained human social behaviour, in the sense that they exploit and feed upon processes and mechanisms that evolved for purposes that were originally completely alien to human-computer interactions.

Second, there are some very interesting questions that must be answered with respect to central notions in cultural psychology as these are tested through human interactions with AI. First, I will present some important concepts and ideas from the world of AI that might be beneficial for pursuing research topics focused on AI within the cultural psychology research agenda. There are three areas in which I believe there is a need for both a better understanding and added perspective. What sort of challenges does this development pose for human beings? I argue that we are seeing an emerging challenge to the concept of what it means to be human, as (a) we struggle to define what makes us special and try to come to terms with being surpassed in various ways by computers, and (b) the way we use and interact with technology changes us in ways we do not yet fully understand.Ĭan artificial intelligence (AI) develop the potential to be our partner, and will we be as sensitive to its social signals as we are to those of human beings? I examine both of these questions and how cultural psychology might add such questions to its research agenda. The change that occurs in our relations to other people, and computers, change both how we act and how we are.

This, in turn, we use to train intelligent computers that ease and customise ever more of our lives. At the same time, we use technology to gather vast amounts of data on ourselves. Artificial intelligence-embodied or not-now drive our cars, trade stocks, socialise with our children, keep the elderly company and the lonely warm. Today, we make computers that are smart enough to challenge, and even surpass, us in many areas. We continue to do so today, but we are no longer only using technology to perform physical tasks. Human beings have used technology to improve their efficiency throughout history.

Being human in the age of algorithms