Abstract
Children begin to develop self-awareness when they associate images and abilities with themselves. Such “construction of self” continues throughout adult life as we constantly cycle through different forms of self-awareness, seeking, to redefine ourselves. Modern technologies like screens and artificial intelligence threaten to alter our development of self-awareness, because children and adults are exposed to machines, tele-presences, and displays that increasingly become part of human identity. We use avatars, invent digital lives, and augment ourselves with digital imprints that depart from reality, making the development of self-identification adjust to digital technologies that blur the boundary between us and our devices. To empower children and adults to see themselves and artificially intelligent machines as separately aware entities, we created the persona of a salvaged supermarket security camera refurbished and enhanced with the power of computer vision to detect human faces, and project them on a large-scale 3D face sculpture. The surveillance camera system moves its head to point to human faces at times, but at other times, humans have to get its attention by moving to its vicinity, creating a dynamic where audiences attempt to see their own faces on the sculpture by gazing into the machine's eye. We found that audiences began attaining an understanding of machines that interpret our faces as separate from our identities, with their own agendas and agencies that show by the way they serendipitously interact with us. The machine-projected images of us are their own interpretation rather than our own, distancing us from our digital analogs. In the accompanying workshop, participants learn about how computer vision works by putting on disguises in order to escape from an algorithm detecting them as the same person by analyzing their faces. Participants learn that their own agency affects how machines interpret them, gaining an appreciation for the way their own identities and machines' awareness of them can be separate entities that can be manipulated for play. Together the installation and workshop empower children and adults to think beyond identification with digital technology to recognize the machine's own interpretive abilities that lie separate from human being's own self-awareness.
Highlights
Development of Self-AwarenessThe maxim of “Know thyself ” has been touted since the time of Protagoras, as it indicates ultimate understanding of our own identity and action that allows us to more objectively evaluate our influence on the world
As detailed in Results, participants spontaneously perform games like covering their faces with their hands, making funny faces, seeing which of two faces the robot turns toward, etc. All these actions have a manifestation in the projected image on the 3D sculpture, some changing the detection of their face, some not changing the detection interaction
Children’s perception of being seen or not seen by external entities like mirrors and other people helps define their self-awareness. This identity is associated with their own self-presentation, which forms a performative behavior in public that in turn reinforces who they should be (Goffman, 1959)
Summary
Development of Self-AwarenessThe maxim of “Know thyself ” has been touted since the time of Protagoras, as it indicates ultimate understanding of our own identity and action that allows us to more objectively evaluate our influence on the world. Recognition of self-awareness and self-identity fosters understanding of our relation to ourselves and our society as children and adults. Experiments show that the affirmation that comes with self-awareness leads to increased compassion for one’s own actions as well as increased positive social helping behavior following surprising incidents like an accidentally collapsing shelf (Lindsay and Creswell, 2014). Suggesting self-awareness using a webcam reduces the bystander effect of not helping someone in need when other people are present (van Bommel et al, 2012). Self-awareness induced by a mirror even reduces aggressive action, whereas audience presence does not (Scheier et al, 1974). Self-awareness and identity go hand-in-hand with socially positive behaviors that promote integration in society
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