Being Riajuu: A Phenomenological Analysis of Sentimental Relationships with “Digital Others”

Nicola Liberati*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

    12 Citations (Scopus)
    20 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    The aim of this paper is to study the possibility of sentimental relationships between human and digital beings. We are interested in what kind of “other” a digital being can be for a human subject because it is the first step in understanding how our intimate lives will be shaped by the introduction of new digital technologies. Today computer technologies are growing fast, and they are becoming pervasive. They are intertwining their digital content with every aspect of our everyday lives and they are placing themselves as our “companions”. This co-existence is so tight that it is possible to think of sentimental relationships growing between users and these devices. We will analyse these relationships from a phenomenological perspective by introducing the Japanese term riajuu [ ] which tackles the problem of having a sentimental and intimate relationship with a digital being. Moreover, thanks to Husserl’s phenomenology, we will show how it is important to discern the digital content of the “other” from how this entity relates to the subject. We will show if the subject can build with a digital other an intimate relationship even when users know it is not a human person they are dealing with.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationLove and Sex with Robots
    Subtitle of host publication3rd International Conference, LSR 2017, Revised Selected Papers
    EditorsAdrian David Cheok, David Levy
    Place of PublicationCham
    PublisherSpringer
    Pages12-25
    Number of pages14
    ISBN (Electronic)978-3-319-76369-9
    ISBN (Print)978-3-319-76368-2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2018
    Event3rd International Conference on Love and Sex with Robots, LSR 2017 - London, United Kingdom
    Duration: 19 Dec 201720 Dec 2017
    Conference number: 3

    Publication series

    NameLecture Notes in Computer Science
    PublisherSpringer
    Volume10715
    ISSN (Print)0302-9743
    ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349
    NameLecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence
    PublisherSpringer

    Conference

    Conference3rd International Conference on Love and Sex with Robots, LSR 2017
    Abbreviated titleLSR 2017
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    CityLondon
    Period19/12/1720/12/17

    Keywords

    • Human-robot intimate relationships
    • Phenomenology
    • Postphenomenology
    • Riajuu
    • n/a OA procedure

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