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Miriam E. Sweeney, PhD

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New article out in American Quarterly

4/4/2022

 
I'm excited to announce that Melissa Villa-Nicholas and I have a new article published in American Quarterly: "Digitizing the 'ideal' Latina Information Worker." This research represents the evolution of our thinking through issues related to interface design and labor histories throughout several collaborative works. I want to thank my co-author for being the most generous and brilliant collaborator, and the editors and reviewers who helped us improve the paper throughout the publication process. Please consider reading, assigning, and citing this research!



Latina AVA installed at Long Beach airport, pictured in Airus Media’s brochure.
Latina AVA installed at Long Beach airport, pictured in Airus Media’s brochure.
Abstract:
Recent examples of virtual assistant technologies designed as Latina information service workers are noteworthy objects of study for their potential to bridge analyses of Latinas’ labor history and information technology. Latinas in the United States have traditionally worked in blue-collar information technology sectors characterized by repetitive labor and low wages, such as electronics manufacturing and customer service. Latina information service workers, though fundamental to technoscience, have been largely invisible in histories of computing. Latina virtual assistants mark a shift in this labor history by relying on the strategic visibility of Latina identity in/as the technology interface. Our research explores Latina virtual assistants designed by Airus Media and installed as airport workers in airports along the southwestern border of the United States. We situate the technocultural narratives present in the design and marketing of these technologies within the broader histories of invisible Latina information labor in the United States. We find continuities between the ways Latinas have historically been positioned as “ideal” information workers and the use of Latina identity in the design of virtual assistants. We argue that the strategic visibility of Latina virtual assistants is linked to the oppressive structures of invisibility that have traditionally organized Latina information service workers.

Cite as: Sweeney, M. E., & Villa-Nicholas, M. (2022). Digitizing the “Ideal” Latina Information Worker. American Quarterly, 74(1), 145–167. https://doi.org/10.1353/aq.2022.0007. (Pre-print available at http://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/7549.) 

Voices for Information Equity talk

4/23/2021

 
I was so pleased to be an invited speaker as a part of the Voices for Information Equity webinar series put together by my esteemed colleague Dr. Melissa Villa-Nicholas and hosted by the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Rhode Island. 

My talk, Listening at the Library: Surveillance in the Stacks Gets Smart, discussed key privacy issues associated with integrating smart voice speakers and digital assistant technologies into library services and programming:

This webinar explores key privacy issues associated with emerging technologies in library services and programming. Building on a recent study about smart voice assistant integration in libraries, Sweeney identifies important questions about patron data collection, management, and use across the lifecycle of smart technologies. Tracing these concerns raises important questions for libraries about the need for pro-active engagement with data privacy in advance of technology adoption, and lays the ground work for libraries to set a broader professional agenda for data privacy that places community safety and tech accountability at the center of library services.*

We had a wonderful turnout of about 70 attendees; my MANY thanks to those who came, participated, and asked wonderful questions. I had a ton fun talking to everyone.



*You can read more about these issues in my related publications:

Sweeney, M.E. (2021). Digital Assistants. In Agostinho, D., D’Ignazio, C., Ring, A., Thylstrup, N.B., & Veel, K. (Eds.), Uncertain Archives. Baltimore, Maryland: MIT Press. (Pre-print available at ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/6348.)

Sweeney, M.E. & Davis, E. (2020). Alexa, are you listening? An exploration of smart voice assistant use and privacy in libraries. Information Technology and Libraries, 39(4). https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v39i4.12363. (Pre-print available at http://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/6783)
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Alexa, are you listening... in the stacks?

12/22/2020

 
I'm happy to share a new article, "Alexa, Are You Listening? An Exploration of Smart Voice Assistant Use and Privacy in Libraries", published with co-author (and SLIS alum) Emma Davis about smart voice assistant use in libraries. Our research explores library use of smart voice assistant technologies in user services and programming, documenting many as-of-yet unresolved privacy issues that these technologies pose for patron communities and also library staff. We urge library workers to consider that smart voice assistants pose harm to many of our patrons as extensions of policing data networks, and argue that the LIS profession has a responsibility to actively engage questions of technological harms and data privacy before advocating adoption of emerging technologies like smart voice assistants in library services.

Read more in our full article, available open access:

Sweeney, M. E., & Davis, E. (2020). Alexa, Are You Listening? An Exploration of Smart Voice Assistant Use and Privacy in Libraries. Information Technology and Libraries, 39(4). https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v39i4.12363

Interview with Radical AI podcast

6/17/2020

 
I had the absolute pleasure of talking with Jess and Dylan, the hosts of the Radical AI podcast, about the ethics of chatbots, virtual assistants, and emoji design. They were really gracious and fun to talk with, and I can't say enough good things about the quality of their podcast. I highly recommend subscribing to the Radical AI podcast and soaking up all of the wisdom from their conversations with leading scholars in technology and media studies. (A great podcast to use in class and assign for students as well!)

Subscribe or listen to the episode here!
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What is socially responsible AI? Broad Science podcast ep available

4/9/2020

 
Photos of interviewees
I was interviewed by the amazing folks at Broad Science for their podcast several months ago. Broad Science is "an initiative dedicated to making science inclusive, engaging, and intersectional," and focuses on "telling science stories from the voices and perspectives that often get overlooked and go untold." I love what they are all about, and recommend checking out their full list of podcast eps on soundcloud.

This episode entitled "What is socially responsible AI?" (aired April 3rd, 2020) features interviews with myself, Dr. Timnit Gebru, Surya Matu, and Dr. Kirk Bansak. The interviewers cover a ton of ground in this episode, including racial profiling, machine bias, interface design, and issues of diversity and inclusion in STEM. We discussed issues of gender and labor in virtual assistant design including the impacts of these technologies in society and broader questions about AI ethics. All of these interviews are fabulous; I start around 42:00, but definitely take the time to listen to the whole thing! 

Thank you to Broad Science for reaching out to me, and wonderful job on this episode!

Available at Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/broad-science/what-is-socially-responsible-ai

Keynote, Library Research Seminar VII

10/22/2019

 
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It was my pleasure to give a keynote at the Library Research Seminar VII event last week in Columbia, South Carolina. This event is sponsored by the American Library Association's Library Research Roundtable (LRRT), and was a really generative and generous space to brainstorm about research with LIS students, practitioners, and scholars of all kinds.
A big thank you to all who planned and executed this event, and much gratitude for inviting me to come share ideas with this warm community!

New article out about USCIS's Latina virtual assistant "Emma"

7/25/2019

 
My collaborator, Dr. Melissa Villa-Nicholas, and I are proud to announce that our new article,
"Designing the "good citizen" through Latina identity in USCIS's virtual assistant "Emma", is now published in the online issue of Feminist Media Studies!

This paper marks the first of three projects interrogating various cultural, political, and social aspects of Latina AI. Stay tuned for updates on this research!

*You can learn more about Dr. Melissa Villa-Nicholas's pioneering research on Latinx information histories and practices here!
Screenshot of
Abstract:
​Virtual assistants are increasingly integrated as “user-friendly” interfaces for e-government services. This research investigates the case study of the virtual assistant, “Emma,” that is integrated into the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website. We conduct an interface analysis of Emma, along with the USCIS website, and related promotional materials, to explore the cultural affordances of Latina identity as a strategic design for this virtual assistant. We argue that the Emma interface makes normative claims about citizenship and inclusion in an attempt to “hail” Latinx users as ideal citizens. We find that the “ideal” citizen is defined through the Emma interface as an assimilated citizen-consumer that engages with digital technologies in ways that produce them as informationally “legible” to the state.
Cite as: ​Melissa Villa-Nicholas & Miriam E. Sweeney (2019) Designing the “good citizen” through Latina identity in USCIS’s virtual assistant “Emma”, Feminist Media Studies, DOI: 10.1080/14680777.2019.1644657

Harvard talk on Latina AI

4/20/2019

 
I had a wonderful time presenting with my research partner Melissa Villa-Nicholas on one of our projects about Latina AI at the Harvard Kennedy School on March 25th. Our talk focused on "Emma", the Latina virtual assistant used by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as a part of their e-government services. This presentation explores the cultural affordances of Latina identity as a strategic design choice in the Emma interface that extends citizenship and nation-building projects for the state, while masking underlying information and data gathering capabilities.

​We were privileged to have Dana Chisnell, co-director of the Center for Civic Design, serve as a moderator for our talk.  We felt very welcome, thanks largely to all of the hard work and planning of Vanessa Rhinesmith, the Associate Director of digitalHKS. Thank you to everyone who came and talked with us about the politics and surveillance implications of digital technologies designed to gather information about Latinx communities.

Recording of talk available to watch here.

*Watch for our paper, "Designing the ‘good citizen’ through Latina identity in USCIS’s virtual assistant ‘Emma'", in Feminist Media Studies forthcoming later in 2019.

Google Assistant in the news

5/17/2018

 
Google's recent I/O developer conference on May 8th, 2018 made waves with the announced updates for the Google Assistant. Among these updates were new features to promote more "natural" conversational applications. Among these updates are six new voice options that include John Legend's musical voicings... a new twist to add some celebrity branding to the palette of customization.  Other controversial adds are a "politeness" feature for aimed at children to "encourage polite conversation". Yikes! So much to unpack in all of this.  Moneyish's Nicole Pesce reached out to me for some thoughts on these updates and what it all means for the landscape of feminized virtual assistants.  Browse her write up of our (very brief) conversation on this here.  More thoughts (and far more developed thoughts) to follow in some of my academic pieces under way! 
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Interview with ABC's Science Friction Podcast

8/11/2017

 
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Several weeks ago ABC's Natasha Mitchell reached out to talk with me about AI, chatbots, gender, and sexism for the Science Friction podcast. You can check out the full podcast episode with my interview starting around minute 8, or read the corresponding article with the interview highlights. Thank you, Science Friction, for thoughtfully covering these issues and featuring my research!
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