Recognition, collaboration and community: science fiction representations of robot carers inRobot & Frank,Big Hero 6andHumans

Abstract

In the 2010s, a small number of science fiction films and television series exploring the theme of the robot carer and how humans respond to them were released. This paper explores three works in this regard: the films Robot & Frank (dir. Jake Schreier, USA 2012), Big Hero 6 (dir. Don Hall/Chris Williams, USA 2014) and the television series Humans (UK/USA, Channel 4/AMC, 2015–2018). Examining these works with some of the ethical issues currently being discussed in the use of robot technology in care work, this paper demonstrates how they align themselves with, but also challenge some of these ideas, and ultimately direct viewers to consider their own expectations of personalised healthcare. The essay begins by examining the fears of the care industry deploying robots to replace the work of human carers, followed by a discussion of the effectiveness of robots as carers as depicted in these fictional representations, and the final section considers the social environment that these robot carers are situated in, and how the robots become a reflection of human lives and a repository of memories of affective relations. These texts suggest alternate ways of thinking about human–robot interactions and care work, advocating for a more mutually dependent and reciprocal working relationship that might lead to a better quality of care.

The making of a professional digital caregiver: personalisation and friendliness as practices of humanisation

“…I argue that the digital caregiver challenges notions of healthcare professionalism by its ability to undertake certain tasks, usually performed by healthcare professionals, and by the digital caregiver becoming a part of both the healthcare professionals’ everyday work environments, as well as the patients’ home environments (cf. Hallqvist 2019 ; Teo 2020 ). In this sense, the digital caregiver becomes professional-like.…”

“…Within the field of medical humanities there is a growing interest, especially among humanities and social sciences researchers, to explore how digital healthcare technologies affect the way one understands the field of healthcare specifically through exploring (changing) cultural norms about the body, health, healthcare and illness (cf. Dolezal 2016;Teo 2020). This growing interest is reflected in studies of, for example, how digital health technologies change working conditions and notions of healthcare on September 7, 2021 by guest.…”

“…Within the field of medical humanities there is a growing interest, especially among humanities and social sciences researchers, to explore how digital healthcare technologies affect the way one understands the field of healthcare specifically through exploring (changing) cultural norms about the body, health, healthcare and illness (cf. Dolezal 2016 ; Teo 2020 ). This growing interest is reflected in studies of, for example, how digital health technologies change working conditions and notions of healthcare professionalism ( Hallqvist 2019 ; Hansson 2017 ; Hansson and Bjarnason 2018 ), how health data are made into a commodity for commercial companies ( Berg 2018 ; Van Dijck and Poell 2016 ) and how the digital health technologies’ use of surveillance calls for more discussions regarding privacy, integrity and other ethical dilemmas ( Hansson 2017 ; Lupton 2013 ; Sanders 2017 ).…”

Rage against robots: Emotional and motivational dimensions of anti-robot attacks, robot sabotage, and robot bullying

“…Attacks on entities considered as "others" (whether human or technological) often are based on the social and moral status of the entities (Miller, 1983;Coeckelbergh, 2013). The consideration of a robot as an "other" has been a common theme of science fiction and various creative works (Mayor, 2020) and can include substantial cultural insights and assumptions about robots (Higbie, 2013;Paerregaard, 2019;Teo, 2021). Coeckelbergh (2011) describes how the linguistic construction of artificial others (such as addressing them by name) affects the way individuals interpret them as entities.…”

Autonomy, Posthuman Care, and Romantic Human-Android Relationships in Cassandra Rose Clarke’s The Mad Scientist’s Daughter

“…For example, ethics of care is often applied to nonhuman animals. In more recent years, ethics of care has also been applied to "carebots", or robot caregivers (Teo, 2021;DeFalco, 2020;Yew, 2020).…”