Global Perspectives on Animism and Autonomous Technologies

This volume provides a timely analysis of the emerging phenomenon of autonomous technology, a topic of intense contemporary importance given the transformative potential and risks posed by rapidly developing AI systems. It utilizes a unique approach by focusing on the ways that these technologies can be understood via the lens of animism and ‘techno-animism,’ a term that denotes how society and individual users are attributing life-like properties – agency, intention, and will – to technological systems. The volume further interrogates and critiques the ways that autonomous technologies are often intentionally designed to promote socioemotional connections with users. The volume investigates such technologies through a variety of global settings and interdisciplinary lenses. With contributions from scholars across anthropology, sociology, communication studies, law, and design theory, it offers a range of perspectives on how autonomous technologies are reshaping cultural and social institutions worldwide. Furthermore, this collection addresses the urgent need for concrete research on the readiness of legal and social frameworks to incorporate autonomous technologies. With the imminent widespread integration of autonomous technologies into our everyday lives, the volume provides a critical examination of human-technology interaction and its immediate implications, guiding readers through the intricate web of digital interconnectedness that is on course to define the future of humanity. 

Ralph M. Becker is a lecturer at the California State University Stanislaus, where he also served as Social Sciences Director. He teaches the Anthropology, Honors, and Social Sciences programs. He has also taught at the University of Hamburg, the University of Northern Colorado, and the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Brazil. His academic work concentrates mainly on the anthropology of religion, philosophy of science, and epistemology. For his doctoral thesis, he researched Afro-Brazilian and African cultures, in particular, the spirit possession trance phenomenon and analyzed the description of the phenomenon in different scientific disciplines. Currently, he is researching environmental and ecological problems in connection to different worldview approaches such as individualism or communalism. His primary fieldwork focus is on Brazil and the dynamic of the Candomblé religion in the advancing process of contemporary globalization.

Antônio Carlos Luz Costa is Professor of Sociology at the Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC), Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil. He earned his PhD in Sociology from the University of Hamburg, Germany. His research explores the social risk and systems theory and delves into the societal impacts of algorithmic communication. His scholarly works include publications such as "Irritation und Allopoiesis im Rechtssystem", Saarbrücken 2016, and "Possibilities of empirical research with Luhmann’s systems theory", Porto Alegre 2020. He has also made contributions as a translator (German-Portuguese), including Max Weber's Wirtschaftsethik der Weltreligionen and Niklas Luhmann's Soziale Systeme: Grundriß einer allgemeinen Theorie. 

Andrew Ventimiglia is Assistant Professor of Mass Media in the School of Communication at Illinois State University. His research explores the history and cultural effects of intellectual property with a focus on the role of copyright and trademark law in American religion. His first book, Copyrighting God: Ownership of the Sacred in American Religion was published by Cambridge University Press in 2019. He has articles published or forthcoming in outlets including Religion and American Culture, Internet Histories, Cultural Critique, Information & Culture, and KNOW: A Journal on the Formation of Knowledge.