This assignment is a homework for the class Human-Computer Interaction at the Hague University of Applied Sciences. These reflections were done during the third week of the course following a lecture about artificial creatures.
Research
When I did some desk research about this topic I mostly found reflections on the creepiness of artificial creatures with articles such as "6 Creepy Artificial Animals You Won't Believe Exist" and it reminded of an episode of Black Mirror in which artificial bees are used to pollenize plants after real bees have gone extinct and at first it seems like a great idea, to mimic nature, so the bees can charge in hives and even reproduce by interacting with a 3D printer so their are completely autonomous, but it also seems dishonest to make it look like a natural creature when it is in fact controlled by a private enterprise. The plot of the episode (minor spoiler ahead) is that the bees are hacked and used to murder people and I think that reflects the general thought on this subject, that it is creepy to have machines be incorporated so smoothly into our world even though they are not regulated by normal forces of nature but by humans (who can do selfish or evil things) instead.
Assignment
For this assignment I was asked to do a thought experiment by applying a Homeostasis model to a device. I chose the bicycle.
For a bicycle to keep its homeostasis it needs to balance its fluid movements, the fullness of its tires, the oil on its chains and the tightness of its brakes. The more the bike moves around carrying a human, which means it will put pressure on its tires which will slowly drive the air out and empty them. To encourage the rider to fill up the tires it will move decreasingly fast and smooth.
As the human pedals there will be friction on the chain and oil will be removed. The rain can even speed up this process, and if it is not fixed the bike will try to grab the attention of its rider by pedalling less smoothly at first, then making the chain jump so it will not respond to pedalling at all and take the control away from the rider.
It will need to brake more or less and more or less abruptly based on the traffic and the human driver. This is painful to the bicycle, the bike cannot let this situation worsen so it will respond less and less to the human until the brakes are either tightened or they have become totally unresponsive. If this happens the bike decides its own needs comes first, especially since it has sufficiently warned the biker. The bicycle becomes increasingly angry at its user and it puts them in dangerous situations and sometimes even tries to make the human have an accident in hope they will get hurt. You really should never drive your bike to such extremes as it is cruel and can end up being fatal to yourself, and even your bike.
Reflection
It is my belief that we should all treat the objects around us better. If everybody took the time to maintain and fix their devices they would last longer and there would be less waste as well as more satisfied users. If we gave our objects and especially technological devices the same respect and patience we give other living beings we would most likely avoid many frustrations and grievances. Personifying these devices is a great way to force some compassion and patience into the user when they interact with them. But you do have to make sure it does not get in the way of efficiency and it is done in a way that does not seem manipulative or creepy.