Agency is very important in technology. The example that helped guide my understanding the most was the agency in a smart playlist. This example showed that as you specify the type of characteristics you want in your playlist, the playlist then acts as an agent and updates itself based on the songs that you listen to and adds the ones with the same characteristics in the playlist. This example made me think about the other ways in which technology has agency and the one that popped in my head is the feature on iPhones where it suggests apps that would be beneficial based on your location and the time of day. This, for example, would happen to me after I would always listen to music while walking home and my phone would then suggest the music apps that I would use to listen to music. This power of technology to track how people behave and make decisions based on that is a very interesting and new problem in the advancement off technology.
2 thoughts on “Agency- Thomas Takele”
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I agree, I think that a smart playlist, such as a playlist made on spotify can classify as a form of agency in the sense that the action being formed is music “production” (the playing of music) by an individual through the app, such as spotify. You know, playlists are pretty subjective to the person 1) making it or 2) the person listening to it, so playlists cannot really exist without the means, intent, or listening of the individual, However I think that the playlist is only a part of the relationship and holds no value, as after a person stops listening to it, it continues to exist, however it holds no influence or power.
I liked your example of a smart playlist, as it emphasizes how agency is created by humans and technology working together. Spotify would not be able to create a personalized playlist without user listening history, just as users would not be able to discover new songs without Spotify suggestions. It’s also interesting how technology is always tracking our behavior and acting accordingly in order to create more convenience. I don’t think this is necessarily a problem, though, until our personal data is being sold and shared to people with ill-intentions.