Xiaomi and the Promises of the Good Life? Issues of Security and Risk in the Making of the Smart Home in China

IF 1.7 4区管理学 Q3 MANAGEMENT

Science Technology and Society Pub Date : 2022-02-17 DOI:10.1177/09717218221075128

Gladys Pak Lei Chong

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引用次数: 4

Abstract

Informed by Foucault’s governmentality, this article examines the making of the smart home in China. Operating within the nexus of security and risk, smart homes foster a discourse of the ‘the good life’ that accelerates AI’s integration into the population’s daily life. Taking Xiaomi (a renowned smart home technology company) as a case study, I trace how commercial practices formulate issues of security and risk in three smart home products: smart door lock, home surveillance camera and virtual home assistant. Drawing on visual and discourse analyses of Xiaomi’s promotional materials, this analysis is structured around three levels of relationships: (a) trust and ontological security; (b) the practices of government and the practices of self (c) and the technologisation of Chinese society. This analysis demonstrates that Xiaomi further advances the state-driven technologisation of Chinese society, in which subjects are guided to embrace the positive dimensions of technology for self-actualisation and self-management. However, the technology that makes domestic life and the physical home more reliable, less prone to risks and more secure has at the same time further eroded social relations and trust.

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小米与美好生活的承诺?中国智能家居建设中的安全与风险问题

本文以福柯的治理理论为背景，考察了中国智能家居的形成过程。智能家居在安全和风险的关系下运作，促进了“美好生活”的话语，加速了人工智能融入人们的日常生活。以小米(知名智能家居科技公司)为例，探究智能门锁、家庭监控摄像头、虚拟家庭助手三种智能家居产品的商业实践如何制定安全风险问题。根据b小米宣传材料的视觉和话语分析，本分析围绕三个层次的关系进行:(a)信任和本体论安全;(b)政府的做法和自我的做法(c)和中国社会的技术化。这一分析表明b小米进一步推进了中国社会的国家驱动的技术化，其中主体被引导接受技术的积极方面，以实现自我实现和自我管理。然而，技术使家庭生活和实体家庭更可靠、更不容易发生风险、更安全的同时，也进一步侵蚀了社会关系和信任。

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

Science Technology and Society MANAGEMENT-

CiteScore

3.80

自引率

4.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： Science, Technology and Society is an international journal devoted to the study of science and technology in social context. It focuses on the way in which advances in science and technology influence society and vice versa. It is a peer-reviewed journal that takes an interdisciplinary perspective, encouraging analyses whose approaches are drawn from a variety of disciplines such as history, sociology, philosophy, economics, political science and international relations, science policy involving innovation, foresight studies involving science and technology, technology management, environmental studies, energy studies and gender studies. The journal consciously endeavors to combine scholarly perspectives relevant to academic research and policy issues relating to development. Besides research articles the journal encourages research-based country reports, commentaries and book reviews.