1,720,984 research outputs found
Humanizing or feminizing intelligent personal assistants? Exploring the gender representation of Siri, Cortana, and Alexa in the Italian public sphere
No full textThe interaction between humans and intelligent personal assistants (IPAs)–such as Amazon Alexa, Microsoft Cortana, or Apple Siri–has become increasingly prevalent in our daily lives. These systems, equipped with natural language user interfaces (NLUI), facilitate seamless communication and offer assistance across various domains, from weather forecasts to scheduling tasks. Notably, leading IPAs often embody a feminine voice, thereby reflecting societal perceptions of femininity and contributing to their market appeal. This feminization process is particularly pronounced in cultural contexts such as that in Italy, where language distinctions reinforce gender norms. Despite existing research on gendered representations in technology design, there remains a gap in understanding how IPAs are depicted in the public sphere. Our study bridges this gap by analysing 12 years of media discourse on IPAs (2011–2023) in the 8 major Italian newspapers. Integrating insights from gender studies and science and technology studies, our analysis unveils the intricate interplay between gender representations and technological innovation. We found how gender stereotypes are located within representations of IPAs in mainstream Italian media, thereby influencing both their portrayal and future development trajectories. This research sheds light on the broader implications of gendered representations in technology, which impacts both societal perceptions and technological advancement
Your health in numbers. A sociological analysis of two Quantified-self Communities
No full textThis article describes and analyzes how members of QS communities conceptualize and interpret
data about themselves, and in particular, about their health. Our methodology is
based on twenty semi-structured interviews with members of Quantified-self communities
based in Turin, Italy and Cambridge, U.K. The results of these interviews show how selfmeasurement
practices help to facilitate better management of one’s health, especially when
health-management is considered in a broader framework of general self-improvement. Furthermore,
although self-tracking heightens users’ health-related competence – and in turn,
seems to reduce the traditional jurisdiction of doctors – an overarching frame of medicalization
remains intact; indeed, the alleged “scientificness” of the self-quantification involved in
self-tracking itself exemplifies the medicalization of daily life
Managing Uncertainty in Biomedical Innovation from Below. Exploring Tensions and Contradictions in Oncology and Pregnancy Cases
Full text linkThe contribution originates from Track 1, “Genetics and biomedical
innovation: Between risky and promising scenarios”, held within
the VIII STS Italia conference. The session was intended to promote
reflection on the implications of the latest innovations in genetic research
and molecular biology for the formation of new care practices, as well as
new surveillance and risk management. The objective of the paper is to
highlights the contradictions and ambivalence that may rise from
biomedical innovation through analysing two specific cases: 1) off-label
practice in the context of rare disease in oncology and 2) pre-natal
screening technology and surveillance practices. In both cases, these
biomedical innovations, although very promising, produced high
uncertainty, and the technologies and/or processes developed to cope with
the ‘unknown’ were challenging. However, at the same time, tensions and
contradictions were observed that originated unexpected practices ‘from
below’. In particular, the following section is focused on the ambivalence
that has increasingly taken root in the management of risks related to
health with respect to individual contributions and to research and
scientific work practices
Gli imprenditori stranieri nel Lazio, tra vincoli e risorse: salute e sicurezza sul lavoro
No full textSelf–management and Type 1 Diabetes How Technology Redefines Illness
Full text linkIn the last decades,health andillness havebeen redefined by the technological artefacts.This research explores users’ opinions of the poten-tialsand limits of apps related to the self-management of type 1 diabetes. Our research takes the “app” to be a socio-cultural artefact whose meanings and practices are mediated bysituated practices and knowledges. The anal-ysis has been conducted on two different kinds of texts: the description pro-vided by the app itself (commercial description) and the reviews provided by app users (customer reviews). Our aim is thusto contribute to the study of how technological tools contribute tothe processesof patientsempower-ment
Rethinking the Nexus between Science, Politics and Society in the Age of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic
Full text linkThis crossing boundaries section addresses the substantial aspects
at stake in reshaping the nexus between science, politics and society triggered
by the Covid-19 pandemic. In this regard, three main dimensions are explored:
first, the emerging forms of science-related populism and how political narratives
challenge and dispute prevailing scientific knowledge; second, the platformization
of science communication and the active role of users and communities
in consuming and spreading online misinformation; third, the role of
lay expertise in contesting the epistemic authority of science during the health
emergency. The authors explore the related topics by mobilizing different theoretical
frameworks from STS studies, media studies and legal science, also
moving from empirical to theoretical level in order to challenge the “surface”
of a multilayered phenomenon
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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