Machine In The Middle: Exploring Dark Patterns of Emotional Human-Computer Integration Through Media Art

Abstract

As our relationship with machines becomes evermore intimate, we observe increasing efforts in the quantification of human emotion, which has historically generated unintended consequences. We acknowledge an amplification of this trend through recent technological developments that aim toward human-computer integration, and explore the dark patterns that may arise for integrating emotions with machinic processes through "machine_in_the_middle". Machine_in_the_middle is an interactive system in which a participant wears an electroencephalographic headset, and their neural activity is analysed to ascertain an approximation of their emotional state. Using electrical muscle stimulation their face is animated into an expression that corresponds with the output of the emotional recognition system. Through our work, we contribute the insight of three possible dark patterns that might emerge from emotional integration, including: reductionism of human emotion, disruptions of agency, and parasitic symbiosis. We hope that these insights inspire researchers and practitioners to approach human-computer integration more cautiously.