Adversarial uses of affective computing and ethical implications

Much existing affective computing research focuses on systems designed to use information related to emotion to benefit users. Many technologies are used in situations their designers didn't anticipate and would not have intended. This thesis discusses several adversarial uses of affective computing: use of systems with the goal of hindering some users. The approach taken is twofold: first experimental observation of use of systems that collect affective signals and transmit them to an adversary; second discussion of normative ethical judgments regarding adversarial uses of these same systems. This thesis examines three adversarial contexts: the Quiz Experiment, the Interview Experiment, and the Poker Experiment. In the quiz experiment, participants perform a tedious task that allows increasing their monetary reward by reporting they solved more problems than they actually did. The Interview Experiment centers on a job interview where some participants hide or distort information, interviewers are rewarded for hiring the honest, and where interviewees are rewarded for being hired. In the Poker Experiment subjects are asked to play a simple poker-like game against an adversary who has extra affective or game state information.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Program In Media Arts and Sciences

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Reynolds, Carson Jonathan, 1976-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Rosalind Picard.

• Architecture. Program In Media Arts and Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/33881
• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Identifier URI

http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/33881

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/33881