Course:MDIA300/The iPhone Erfahrung by Emily McArthur
Introduction
The iPhone Erfahrung: Siri, The Auditory Unconscious, and Water Benjamin’s “Aura”
Chapter 6 of Design, Mediation, and the Posthuman (2014) features Emily McArthur’s The iPhone Efahrung: Siri, The Auditory Unconscious, and Water Benjamin’s “Aura”. In essence, the chapter deals with how the Siri program intersects with the Benjaminian concept of aura by introducing Siri as having a posthuman aura being built off the original concept. McArthur also introduces the auditory unconscious, another branching term from Benjamin’s optical unconscious.
Argument
The main argument behind McArthur’s text is how Siri’s posthuman aura blurs the bounds between human and technology, effectively shielding users from the underlying capitalist techniques of corporations behind the creation of it. While users feel in control of Siri, they are unaware of what goes on behind the veil due to Siri’s aura. However, Siri is still prone to making mistakes, thus snapping the user out of that “daze” and exposing the uncanny limits of the program where McArthur connects it to the auditory unconscious.
Terms & Comparison
Erfahrung vs. Erlebnis
Originating from Walter Benjamin’s On Some Motifs of Baudelaire, the main distinction between the two is that the Erfahrung signifies the long-term experience built over time as part of our collective consciousness whereas the Erlebnis is the short-term experience that is typically squeezed into one intense moment. McArthur’s text mainly focuses on the former in regards to our enduring collective. In a more present context, new media technologies have since entered society’s collective Erfahrung. Benjamin outlines consciousness functioning as "a shield against these shocks, mediating between self and world, protecting the fragile human psyche and thus guarding our collective social memory, our Erfahrung." [1]
Walter Benjamin's Aura vs. Siri's Posthuman Aura
Benjamin’s aura concept came from his well-known 1935 essay entitled The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Initially, the aura surrounded conversations of artwork, defining it as the unique or mystical presence that the work has in time and space. With technological reproduction, like photography, the aura gets lost because it is no longer in its original form, no longer authentic or possessing history. McArthur reconstructs this notion fitting within the lens of contemporary technology like Siri to create the posthuman aura. The foundation still remains of its magical nature though it now stems from the machine that “seems to dwell in the nebulous space between human and thing.” [2]
Walter Benjamin's Optical Unconscious vs Robert G. Ryder/Emily McArthur's Auditory Unconscious
Once again, McArthur bridges Benjamin’s original concepts into more contemporary contexts, including the optical/auditory unconscious. The optical unconscious was first mentioned in his 1931 essay, A Short History of Photography, describing the concept as an “emancipatory way of seeing” the hidden visual layers of human experience through film that we tend to leave unregistered or suppressed. Whereas, the auditory unconscious is consequently an emancipatory way of hearing. McArthur actually repurposes Robert G. Ryder’s concept of "acoustical unconscious” for a study on early 20th century German radio and film, though McArthur uses “auditory” to connote both the projection and processing of sound. [2] As Siri is a disembodied, electronic voice of conversation, there is a shock that users may find when interacting with the program that blinds us “unconscious” of what lies beneath — capitalist structures that use the magic of Siri for profit.
How Siri Works & How the Illusion is Created
Siri was designed to be a secretary of sorts, something “ready” for you at all times. By using natural language processing (NLP), Siri uses it for the ability to paraphrase text, answer questions, etc. Siri democratizes NLP as well as the posthuman aura. Siri also does not reproduce, but rather it uses complex translation (the key step: translating sound waves to analog signal → digital signal → human language) and synthesis (programmed algorithms to interpret spoken language) to maintain a kind of “auratic inscrutability.” [2] Developers aimed to highlight both the technological and human-like qualities within user interactions that sets itself apart from other voice-activated systems, specifically by crafting a personality and the front of having independent vocalized agency — quick, human-like timing, knowing your name, using casual language. They’ve honed in on emphasizing a human relationship between Siri and the user, making humans believe that machines can mimic human (class) relationships. These conversations are designed to seem extremely realistic and conversational, almost seamlessly so. Even the vocalizations are feminized and polite.
Takeaways
Emily McArthur’s chapter makes us reframe relationships between human and technology by creating the illusion of a near-sentient machine that blinds us of seeing its true intentions. There are power structures to be uncovered that Siri’s mystical posthuman aura does ultimately try to hide. However, the auditory unconscious of Siri is then exposing the hidden mediation of capitalism that is the very reason developers have crafted such an effective program, until Siri experiences a glitch. Siri poses as a convenient tool on your iPhone but also invites discussion on what we perceive or believe/are aware we are “masters” of.