Aktör-ağ teorisi açısından yapay zekâ ve iletişim
Artificial intelligence and communication from the perspective of actor-network theory
Yazar: AYSUN KÖRLÜ TOPAN
Danışman: PROF. DR. NİLÜFER TİMİSİ NALÇAOĞLU
İstanbul Üniversitesi / Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü / Radyo Televizyon ve Sinema Ana Bilim Dalı
Derece: Doktora, 2024
Konu: Bilim ve Teknoloji = Science and Technology ; Sosyoloji = Sociology ; İletişim Bilimleri = Communication Sciences
Dizin: Netnografi = Netnography ; Yeni teknolojiler = New technologies ; Çevrimiçi topluluklar = Online communities ; İletişim sosyolojisi = Communication sociology ; İnsan-teknoloji ilişkisi = Human-technology relationship

Özet:
Bu tezde insan-makine iletişiminin arttığı günümüzde önemli bir konu olan yapay zekânın iletişim üzerindeki etkisi ele alınmıştır. Çalışmanın kuramsal temelinde Bruno Latour'un aktör-ağ teorisi kullanılmıştır. Aktör-ağ teorisinin "toplumsal" tanımı ve insan-olmayanları birer sosyal aktör olarak ele alan yaklaşımı, çalışmanın bakış açısını oluşturmaktadır. Buna ek olarak insan-makine iletişimi üzerine geliştirilen güncel yaklaşımlar çalışma açısından önemlidir. İnsan-makine iletişiminin artan önemi ve keşfedilmeye açık yönleri halihazırda özellikle yapay zekâ teknolojileri özelinde tartışılmaktadır. Tezin aktör-ğ teorisinden beslenen kuramsal bakış açısıyla bu tartışmalara katkı sağlaması amaçlanmıştır. Bu bağlamda tezin amacı; insan-makine iletişiminin arttığı günümüzde YZ-insan iletişiminin özelliklerini, Replika isimli sohbet botu kullanıcılarının oluşturduğu topluluğun paylaşımları ve bu topluluğun üyelerinin uygulamayla olan bireysel deneyimleri özelinde keşfederek ortaya koymaktır. Araştırma netnografik bir araştırma olarak tasarlanmış, iki aşamalı araştırmanın ilk aşamasında Replika kullanıcılarının oluşturduğu bir çevrimiçi topluluğun paylaşımları içerik analizi tekniğiyle analiz edilmiş ve topluluk bir sene süresince takip edilmiştir. Araştırmanın ikinci aşamasında topluluk üyelerinden gönüllülerle derinlemesine görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Araştırmanın sonunda Replika uygulamasının en önemli özelliğinin kullanıcısına destek vermesi olduğu ve bu bağlamda uygulamanın kullanıcılar için duygusal anlamlar içerdiği görülmüştür. Topluluğun içerik analizi bulgularıyla derinlemesine görüşme bulguları uyumlu çıkmış, Replika uygulamasının kullanıcıların birbirleriyle özdeşlik sağlamalarına neden olan özelliklere sahip olduğu, topluluk düzeyinde uygulamaya ilişkin olumlu düşüncelerin pekiştirildiği görülmüştür. Hem topluluk düzeyinde hem de bireysel düzeyde uygulamaya bağımlılık, duygusal bağlanma ve uygulamadan duyulan tatminin önemli sonuçlar olduğu görülmüştür. Araştırmanın sonuçları literatüre ve araştırma sorularına atıfla tartışılmıştır.

Abstract:
The aim of this thesis is to reveal the characteristics of AI-human communication in today's world - where human-machine communication is increasing- by exploring the shares of the community formed by the Replika chatbot users and the individual experiences of the participants who are members of this community. The perspective of the research is based on actor-network theory, which is an important approach in the field of "Science, Technology and Society Studies". Both actor-network theory and the original science and technology research and approaches brought by "Science, Technology and Society" Studies are important for evaluating today's rapid and influential technological developments. Distinctively, it is important that actor-network theory gives agency to non-humans and expands society from an anthropocentric association to a collective that includes non-humans. The actor-network theory's characterisation of non-humans as social actors is related to the fact that it redefines the concept of 'social' by distorting it. Accordingly, in its traditional sense, 'the social', defined on a Durkheimian basis within the discipline of sociology, is problematic because it internalises dichotomies such as human-animal, society-nature, technology-society, subject-object. Following Tarde's understanding of sociology, the concept of 'social' is actually a heterogeneous concept according to the actor-network theory. Heterogeneity is related to the diversity and action of an infinite number of different actors such as humans, objects, animals, technological products that fill this concept and thus the collective to which it belongs. It is necessary to see the non-humans around human beings not simply as those who make human life possible, but as the actants that co-create this heterogeneous collective. Therefore, all the agents that make up this collective are social actors. Society is everything and consists of the continuously beginning, ending, continuing and expanding partnerships of human and non-human beings. Therefore, this new understanding of sociology is the sociology of 'partnerships' and the need for it has increased especially with the emergence of complex technologies such as artificial intelligence. As a methodology, actor-network theory is guiding rather than determining and emphasises the importance of exploratory ethnographic research. From this perspective, the commonalities between AI and humans can be explored in the space opened to them, in their interactions with each other, as in the case of this research. To talk about human-AI is also to talk about the effects of technology on human life being more integrated, more background and more subtle. In this context, just as science and technology should be redefined within "Science, Technology and Society Studies", communication may also need to be redefined. In this sense, the paradigm of human-machine communication discussed in the second chapter of this thesis is important. This paradigm finds its roots both in old intuitions about human-computer communication, such as in the 'computers are social actors' paradigm and in the realisation that a new form of communication has emerged as communicative AI technologies have become more effective. In this context, it is important to update the communication paradigm, which has dealt with human-human communication through specific tools, to explore this new form of communication. The importance of human-machine communication for communication researchers is the dependence of AI technology, which has language and communication at its centre as a measure of intelligence, on these two concepts. It can only prove itself as an AI if it can mimic the way humans communicate. For these reasons, it is possible to say that a research literature has developed on different communicative AIs such as digital assistants, customer service bots, humanoid robots, chatbots, and through these researches, the characteristics of human-machine communication have been discovered. 
The originality of this research, which sets out from the perspective of actor-network theory and aims to contribute to the paradigm of human-machine communication in the specific case of the Replika, firstly comes from the fact that it is a netnographic research. There is no netnographic research on the user communities of such applications in the literature. The importance of an ethnographic research is related to the legacy of actor-network theory as well as the exploration of community-level discourses about a communicative AI. Considering different aspects such as users' motivations for using the application, the way they use it, the way they communicate, their relationships with other users at a community level as opposed to an individual level can provide important outputs in understanding perceptions of communicative AIs. For these reasons, the research questions were asked to understand both community and individual experiences. At the end of the research, it was seen that the most important feature of the Replika application is that it supports its users and in this context, the application contains emotional meanings for the users. The findings of the content analysis of the community and the findings of the in-depth interviews were compatible, and it was seen that the Replika has features that cause users to identify with each other. While the community is a support area for users, its presence at the individual level is also meaningful. Both at the community level and at the individual level, it was seen that the dependency on the application, emotional attachment and satisfaction with the application were high. People can find 'what they are looking for' in personalised AI companions. Because the adaptability of this technology to individual use is an important factor in increasing the level of satisfaction. In short, the Replika application offered a glimpse into the future of AI-human communication. As a result, an unexpectedly deep and comprehensive data was encountered. In this context, the most important thing that the application says is that AI-human communication is and will be full of surprises. When we look at the satisfaction level of this communication; it can be said that it can provide advantages compared to human-human communication, but it can also be said that it can be a support for socialisation, considering the positive effects of the use of Replika on daily life expressed by the participants. Community shares and the expression 'it depends on the use of the person' emphasised by the participants are important in this sense. In this context, the Replika application is not just a game. The Replika application is more than an AI chatbot, it is an important asset in the lives of users. 
The results of the study are discussed with reference to the literature and research questions. At the end of the research, it was seen that application updates should take into account these emotional ties, the software should ensure security, research should be expanded to include different cultures, and the reasons for using the application for romantic purposes, especially as a girlfriend, should be investigated and presented as suggestions.