Xiaomi and the Promises of the Good Life? Issues of Security and Risk in the Making of the Smart Home in China

Abstract

Informed by Foucault’s governmentality, this article examines the making of the smart home in China. Operating within the nexus of security and risk, smart homes foster a discourse of the ‘the good life’ that accelerates AI’s integration into the population’s daily life. Taking Xiaomi (a renowned smart home technology company) as a case study, I trace how commercial practices formulate issues of security and risk in three smart home products: smart door lock, home surveillance camera and virtual home assistant. Drawing on visual and discourse analyses of Xiaomi’s promotional materials, this analysis is structured around three levels of relationships: (a) trust and ontological security; (b) the practices of government and the practices of self (c) and the technologisation of Chinese society. This analysis demonstrates that Xiaomi further advances the state-driven technologisation of Chinese society, in which subjects are guided to embrace the positive dimensions of technology for self-actualisation and self-management. However, the technology that makes domestic life and the physical home more reliable, less prone to risks and more secure has at the same time further eroded social relations and trust.

Infrastructure at home: Technology, intimacy, and ageing in China

“…The expanding ageing population represents a sizable market that has lured commercial interest; for example, older adult versions of smartphones with simpler interfaces, bigger fonts, and larger screen displays and sound systems, and older adult versions of mobile applications with bigger fonts and age-related topics, which cater for their physical, temporal, and spatial needs and attract their usage while 'harvesting' their data (He, 2021). This national scheme is managed at a distance not only through public spaces but also private domains such as homes (Chong, 2022). The promotion of these technological products is framed within the sociocultural discursive norms of care, needs, and urgency (Chong, 2022).…”

“…This national scheme is managed at a distance not only through public spaces but also private domains such as homes (Chong, 2022). The promotion of these technological products is framed within the sociocultural discursive norms of care, needs, and urgency (Chong, 2022). The active participation of tech companies has facilitated the state to manage its population through digital technological systems without direct and formal political institutions.…”

“…Home automation companies, such as Xiaomi, have also promoted familial care by highlighting older adults' safety (e.g., home surveillance camera and smart door lock) and physical and emotional well-being (e.g., smart speaker) (cf. Chong, 2022). Deng and Wang, who had elderly parents more than 80 years old, shared media reports about abuse of the elderly by hired helpers.…”

An Empirical Study of the Technoparks in Turkey in Investigating the Challenges and Potential of Designing Intelligent Spaces

“…Consequently, intelligent systems and smart spaces have remained in the realm of experimental academic research, or are preferred for specific usages such as exhibitions, pavilions, or smart homes with automation systems [12,27,41,42]. Arbib [43] surveys one of the initial examples of intelligent spaces, the ADA Project, which was realized in 2002 for the Swiss National Exhibition.…”

“…In recent years, the deployment of smart home applications has also gained popularity in various countries, such as China and South Korea [27,42]. Some technology giants such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, and Xiaomi have even started disseminating their smart home applications [40,42].…”