“Warm Robots” for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder? The Thermodynamics of Human Sociality and the Technology of Inclusion in South Korea

Abstract

Over the past several years, robots that help children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to develop social skills have emerged as an archetype of “warm robots” in South Korea’s public science and technology discourses. This paper critically examines the socio-historical and conceptual meanings of this phenomenon. First, it traces how these robots have come to bear the “warmth” imaginary of new techno-society at the juncture of two national trends: the promotion of humanist pursuits of new technologies since the 2010s, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution initiated by the 2016 Davos Forum. Second, it analyzes the thermodynamics entailed by the current idea of therapy robots—that these robots bear the warmth of an imaginary techno-society, while the human warmth of autistic children remains bracketed and their mothers’ caregiving serves to insulate these human-robot interactions from broader sociality. By illuminating the complex social implications of such thermodynamics, this paper aims to move beyond the liberal humanist critique of machinic dehumanization of people with autism by criticizing its undergirding scheme of robots as surrogates for devalued gendered, racialized, and colonial labor. In doing so, this paper opens space for re-envisioning a more inclusive and diverse techno-society in South Korea and elsewhere.