Algorithm Awareness as an Important Internet Skill: The Case of Voice Assistants

IF 1.9 3区文学 Q2 COMMUNICATION

International Journal of Communication Pub Date : 2021-03-27 DOI:10.5167/UZH-204503

Jonathan Gruber, E. Hargittai, Gökçe Karaoglu, Lisa Brombach

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引用次数: 16

Abstract

Voice assistants have become increasingly popular as part of digital technologies that people use in their everyday lives. Research on Internet use has shown that people’s online experiences are influenced by their level of know-how about the platforms they use. Extending the literature on Internet skills, this article focuses on people’s algorithm skills in the domain of voice assistants. Are people aware of how algorithms influence what information they receive when using voice assistants? Drawing on 83 interviews conducted in 5 countries, we find that only a few participants explicitly mentioned the terms algorithms and artificial intelligence. Still, many seemed to be aware of the existence of automatic decision-making processes in voice assistants. This awareness was not necessarily based on their own experience with voice assistants, however. Rather, it was often a result of experiences with other digital devices and services such as Google Search, Facebook, Amazon, or smartphones, as well as information from social contacts and the media. We discuss the relevance of being aware of algorithms as one dimension of Internet skills.

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算法意识作为一种重要的网络技能:以语音助手为例

语音助手作为人们日常生活中使用的数字技术的一部分，已经越来越受欢迎。对互联网使用的研究表明，人们的在线体验受到他们对所使用平台的了解程度的影响。本文扩展了有关网络技能的文献，重点研究了语音助手领域中人们的算法技能。人们是否意识到在使用语音助手时，算法是如何影响他们接收到的信息的?根据在5个国家进行的83次访谈，我们发现只有少数参与者明确提到算法和人工智能这两个术语。尽管如此，许多人似乎意识到语音助手中存在自动决策过程。然而，这种意识并不一定是基于他们自己使用语音助手的经验。相反，这通常是使用其他数字设备和服务的结果，如谷歌搜索、Facebook、亚马逊或智能手机，以及来自社交关系和媒体的信息。我们将讨论将算法作为互联网技能的一个维度的相关性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Communication COMMUNICATION-

CiteScore

2.70

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The International Journal of Communication is an online, multi-media, academic journal that adheres to the highest standards of peer review and engages established and emerging scholars from anywhere in the world. The International Journal of Communication is an interdisciplinary journal that, while centered in communication, is open and welcoming to contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that meet at the crossroads that is communication study. We are interested in scholarship that crosses disciplinary lines and speaks to readers from a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives. In other words, the International Journal of Communication will be a forum for scholars when they address the wider audiences of our many sub-fields and specialties, rather than the location for the narrower conversations more appropriately conducted within more specialized journals. USC Annenberg Press USC Annenberg Press is committed to excellence in communication scholarship, journalism, media research, and application. To advance this goal, we edit and publish prominent scholarly publications that are both innovative and influential, and that chart new courses in their respective fields of study. Annenberg Press is among the first to deliver journal content online free of charge, and devoted to the wide dissemination of its content. Annenberg Press continues to offer scholars and readers a forum that meets the highest standards of peer review and engages established and emerging scholars from anywhere in the world.