Intelligent Ambient Technology– Friend or Foe?

The paper presents a part of findings from a study carried out to gain insight on user understanding of smart environments and preferred ways and places for interaction with smart services therein. Here the writers concentrate on qualitative interview data discussing the concept of intelligence with regard to technology and the participants’ perceptions of it. Such understanding of potential users’ expectations is critical in developing novel technologies and launching the first services based on it. Furthermore, naming the offered technology or service smart or intelligent might give wrong impressions of its capabilities, thus leading to experiences of worry or disappointment. The main finding is that the participants understood “intelligence” to mean different things, which are usually related to their own needs or technological novelty. In addition, an intelligent system and ability to act proactively raised concerns of loss of control.

The paper is written by Minna Kynsilehto and Thomas Olsson.