Sherry Turkle

In this course

Turkle is essential to this course's inquiry into how humans form affective and psychological attachments to computational systems, moving beyond purely instrumental views of technology to examine desire, loneliness, and projection in human-machine relations. Her work on relational objects and the psychology of connection appears in the readings as a counterpoint to both technological determinism and rational-choice models, particularly relevant when examining how people construct meaning and community through digital interfaces. Though the specific excerpts here are fragmentary, her framework helps illuminate why AI systems and algorithmic spaces become sites of psychological investment rather than mere tools.

Background

Sherry Turkle is an American sociologist. She is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She obtained a BA in social studies and later a PhD in sociology and personality psychology at Harvard University. She now focuses her research on psychoanalysis and human-technology interaction. She has written several books focusing on the psychology of human relationships with technology, especially in the realm of how people relate to computational objects. Her memoir 'Empathy Diaries' received excellent critical reviews.

Mentioned in 1 reading