Anthropologist's Digest

Tag: ai

  • Globalization: The Interconnected World of Today

    Globalization: The Interconnected World of Today

    Since 1980, world trade as a percentage of global GDP has almost doubled (Index Mundi), international migrant stock has more than tripled (United Nations), and the number of people using the internet has increased by thousands of times (ITU). As a reader of an anthropology blog, you may ask why I am sharing seemingly unrelated statistics that would fit much better in a blog about technology or global economics. However, these statistics are all proof that there is a force driving connection in the world of today: globalization.

    A Brief History of Globalization

    Globalization is defined as the process of connecting and integrating different economies, cultures, technology, and populations, increasing global interconnectivity. This is done through the means of technology, people, shared ideas, and trade, to name a few. Globalization can be observed in all walks of life around the world, and its presence is ever-increasing.

    Image Credit: NASA

    The spread of the globalization phenomenon can be traced back to early trade routes like the silk road. On these routes, merchants moved their goods across trade chains for thousands of miles across continents (Eurasia, in the case of the silk road). Though this did not directly establish links between cultures, a large-scale economic market spanning dozens of countries was established, paving the way for economic interconnection. Future widespread trade included the spice routes of seventh-century Arabs, connecting the east and the west as well as paving the way for the Age of Discovery. During this period (1400-1700), European nations greatly advanced globalization through their conquest of foreign nations, one of which later became the United States of America. Through the founding of Spanish and Portuguese trade routes to outposts in South and Central America, the Columbian Exchange, a web of trade routes bringing regionally specialized goods to new areas, opened a new worldwide colonial economy. While these advancements led to partial globalization, true globalization was not achieved until around the 20th century, when the industrial revolution opened a new era of trade dubbed the “First Wave of Globalization”. Over the years, the process of globalizing advanced and economic bonds were strengthened by innovations in technology (brought by the first and second industrial revolutions). Today, a new “Fourth Wave of Globalization” is continuing the upward economic trend as cybertechnology dominates world markets.

    Columbus’s exploration of the New World played a large role in establishing a global economy. (Image Credit: Kristijan Arsoy)

    Types of Globalization

    While my not-so brief overview of globalization’s lengthy history makes it sound like a primarily economic topic, globalization in the modern age takes many forms. Each of these comes with its own advantages and drawbacks.

    Political Globalization

    Starting with a type of which we have no shortage in the current day and age, political globalization describes the development of global policy and international government. In the modern interconnected world, tensions such as geopolitical conflicts (i.e. the Russo-Ukrainian conflict or the Arab Spring) have far-reaching effects that extend well beyond their borders (such as ethnic tensions that resulted from the revolutions). Additionally, world governments and allegiances such as the UN, EU, NATO, and the defunct Warsaw Pact have become increasingly active on the world stage in the last century. These bodies, primarily established to promote security and harmony in member countries, have led to an increased political interconnectivity that has brought previously closed-off countries with their own unique policies into shared-policy groups. Political globalization is seen by some as a force of positivity, as it fosters peace as well as economic connections, but it has been criticized by some as having caused a loss of sovereignty (i.e. British Eurosceptics such as Nigel Farage, who criticize the European Union’s undermining of state independence).

    Economic Globalization

    Economic globalization refers to the integration of national economies into the global economy. The modern technology market is a perfect example of this: a computer made of American raw materials and Chinese computer chips could be assembled in a Hungarian factory. This international economic integration has become a standard of modern manufacturing, and the outsourcing of different countries’ labor and resources creates economic ties that have merged multiple nations’ economies into one (or something that is on the way to being one). Global stock markets are another prime example of economic globalization; the fluctuation of a stock in one country could have an impact on investors and governments around the world. While economic globalization drives the growth of international markets and promotes healthy economic competition, the interconnectivity it brings increases the risk of a potential financial crisis having global consequences.

    Cultural Globalization

    Cultural globalization, the type most pertinent to the study of anthropology, is the spread and integration of cultures into other cultures. The internet (and its social media platforms) serves as the perfect vehicle for the spread of culture, something that can be seen in the global support for football team Manchester United or K-pop band BTS. Furthermore, mass global travel and tourism helps to spread cultural ideas and customs. Though cultural globalization can cause cultural homogenization and loss of unique traditions, with balance, the spread of cultures around the globe can help us gain a fuller understanding of viewpoints and ways of life through others’ perspectives.

    Applications to the Field of Anthropology

    The primary aspect of globalization pertinent to anthropology is the newfound connectedness of people and their ways of life (seen primarily in cultural globalization, but also through connections like business ties in economic globalization). Global interaction between cultures and individuals, a major theme in the study of anthropology, is greatly changing as globalization persists, and the field of anthropology must constantly adapt to keep up with global interconnection. Additionally, studying the reactions of people and cultures to globalization unlocks new perspectives that can reveal more about cultures as well as how globalization is working its way into their ways of life. This can be seen in many real-life studies such as Dr. Garett Cook’s research on indigenous villagers in Guatemala and how they work to maintain their traditions as globalization rapidly reshapes the environment they live in. All in all, anthropology can reveal much about globalism and help humanity adapt to the constantly shifting economic, political, and cultural landscape that is the world of today.

    All images were taken from Unsplash.com

  • Research Review: Semantics of Illness in AI Healthcare

    Research Review: Semantics of Illness in AI Healthcare

    Hello everyone, this is my first post in a while as school got off to a busy start, but I will be posting more frequently in the future, so stay tuned for more anthropology articles.

    I recently participated in a guided research program where I wrote my first research paper. Choosing a topic was slightly hard, but I eventually settled on medical anthropology. I had the most difficult task to deal with next: finding a research question. After looking into many different areas in which medical anthropology could be applied, my mentor and I looked into the development of artificial intelligence (AI) healthcare models and applications of anthropology to them.

    The concept of healthcare AI models is a relatively new one, as the technology needed to produce something effective enough to be worth developing has only just recently become available. Though experimental research could only be performed on existing prototype models (the soonest beta releases are years away), I wanted to look into issues that could arise in a fully functional healthcare model, specifically in regards to cultural differences. These theoretical issues would occur (most likely) primarily by way of cross-cultural differences in semantics or communication style.

    In terms of methodology, I interviewed six participants: a man and a woman each from Walnut Creek, USA; Istanbul, Turkiye; and Develi, Turkiye. The interviews were conducted as series of questions over international encrypted messaging app WhatsApp.

    Image credit: National Cancer Institute

    Semantic Differences

    Fortunately, there exists some research that looks into cultural differences in semantics of illness. Acclaimed Harvard professor Byron J Good’s The Heart of What’s the Matter: Semantics of Illness in Iran examines the Persian folk illness “heart distress” and its perceived causes in Iranian culture. The paper draws on observed semantic networks to trace how people describe their illness, and the result was that Iranians understand their illnesses very differently than Americans understand theirs. While outdated (it was published in 1977), Good’s study provided a strong theoretical basis for me to do more research. In a theoretical healthcare AI model, misdiagnoses could stem from semantic differences, resulting in an unintentionally biased model. This potential harm, should it become an issue, would be classified as structural violence, a form of social harm that prevents groups of people from having their essential needs met (Read more in the paper linked below).

    The first two interview questions were oriented towards semantic differences. The first asked participants to describe symptoms of a common cold to a doctor, and the second asked them to describe symptoms to an AI model. In theory, these two questions would reveal differences across cultures in both how patients interacted with physicians and how they interacted with AI. Provided symptoms were compared in a table (included below), and the style of descriptions (symptom vs biomedical, list vs na

    Cultural Comfort Differences

    The other two questions were less important to the study; these dealt with contextual differences in communication across cultures. The participants were asked to honestly give any sensitive or embarrassing symptoms that they would not feel comfortable sharing with an in-person physician. They were then asked if they would be more comfortable sharing these symptoms with an AI doctor. The purpose of these questions was to evaluate two things. First, if patients felt more comfortable sharing symptoms with a doctor and, consequently, omitted certain symptoms from a report to an AI model, misdiagnosis could occur from a skewed description. Second, if patients felt more comfortable sharing details with an AI model, they would be more likely to share full details and receive an accurate diagnosis as a result.

    Results

    It was hypothesized based on existing theory and assumptions that there would be a good deal of cultural differences in semantics of illness and comfortability interacting with an AI model. The results, however, showed minimal differences across the three cultures (see tables in the paper). There were little to no differences within the country of Turkey, and Turks tended to describe their symptoms and comfortability with in relatively similar ways. The only major difference within Turkey was that rural Turks tended to describe their illness in a symptomatic hybrid difference, while urban Turks tended to describe their illnesses in a list fashion. American and Turkish responses displayed similar levels of variation, as the only major difference between the countries was the symptoms of the common flu that they provided (more detail in the paper).

    There are many potential explanations for the high level of similarity between cultures, but experimental research is needed to verify any one of these explanations. A possible and likely reason that the results of my study were so different from Dr. Good’s is that globalization has made the world a much smaller place since 1977. With the technological revolution putting internet access into the hands of almost all people, information can be spread much more easily, and as a result, cultural mannerisms and ways of interacting bleed into each other more than they used to.

    This study was non-experimental and hypothesis-generating, so no conclusions can be drawn from the results. It does, however, raise interesting questions about how important cultural differences really are to the development of healthcare AI models.

    I would like to thank the team at Lumiere education for providing excellent services and making the experience of writing a paper much easier than it would have been if I had attempted to do it myself. I highly recommend them to anyone who needs guidance in writing and publishing their first paper.

    Read the paper here

  • Applications of Anthropology to the “Uncanny Valley”

    Applications of Anthropology to the “Uncanny Valley”

    My First Post

    Hey everybody! Welcome to my anthropology blog, where I’ll be documenting my journey learning about anthropology as well as examining applications of anthropology to everyday phenomena.

    A little bit about myself – my name is Kyle and I am a high school student aspiring to learn more about the world of anthropology. For my first post, I’m going to be discussing the “uncanny valley” (UV) theory and how it is applied to people of different cultures. I’ve been fascinated with this topic since I learned about it in a YouTube video, and I figured it would make for a good first article.

    The “Uncanny Valley”

    Before we dive into anthropological applications of this phenomenon, let’s first discuss what the uncanny valley actually is. The term was first coined by Japanese robotics professor Masahiro Mori in his 1970 book Bukimi No Tani (literally translates to “The Uncanny Valley”). The general idea of the theory goes something like this: as the realism of a robot or non-living humanoid object increases, the neurological response of surrounding humans becomes increasingly comfortable and empathetic towards the object until it approaches a certain point of realism (this can be illustrated by the affection a child feels towards figures like dolls). Approaching this point of realism, empathy towards the object drops sharply into a negative level (illustrated on the graph below) before increasing again as the object approaches the point of being an actual human. This sharp drop is what is referred to as the “uncanny valley”- a spike in negative neurological response around the point of human likeness that resembles a valley on a graph (Britannica). Unfortunately, empirical evidence of the UV is lacking, to say the least, as it is uncertain if accurate studies have been conducted to the extent that we can verify the specifics of this phenomenon. The basic idea can still be validated, though, by the fact that I’d rather be chased by a teddy bear than a zombie. The graph from Britannica pictured below gives decent examples of different objects and where they fall along the uncanny valley.

    Anthropology Time…

    While the uncanny valley more of a psychology-centered topic, there are a wide variety of anthropological aspects that play a role in the UV theory.

    The primary factor influencing perceptions of the uncanny valley across cultures that I will talk about today is the “other-race” effect. The “other-race” effect (OR) is described as being the tendency for one to more easily recognize and distinguish faces of individuals of their own race (as opposed to individuals of other races). Interestingly, members of a given race tend to notice fluctuations in the facial structures of figures designed to be classified as said race. In a study conducted by Ayako Saneyoshi et al., a group of 28 Japanese university students and 23 Norwegian students were shown multiple images of both Japanese and Norwegian figures, with the figure’s eyes being scaled up to 20% over or under the typical size. Researchers utilized eye tracking technology to monitor the responses of the students; pupillary diameter can be used as an accurate measure of the response of an individual to faces. The study found both groups more likely to be unsettled/feel less affinity to the altered figures of their own races. Saneyoshi attributes these responses to the heightened exposure one receives to members of their own race throughout their lives. To summarize, the OR effect leads individuals to detect changes and feel greater unease at a higher rate when exposed to figures of their own race.

    The Future?

    As artificial intelligence becomes more and more humanoid in its behaviors, and innovations in robotics technology allow us to create increasingly realistic robots, the relationship between man and computer must be addressed in order for these systems to work to their fullest efficiency. The uncanny valley is an important factor to account for as this technology advances, as it provides a solid foundation for human response to robotics and can be utilized to maintain harmony between life and tech. At the moment, scientists working to examine this relationship have concluded that robots should be designed with clearly different appearances to humans in order to make them acceptable to today’s population.

    Sources

    Kendall, & Emily. (2022, September 20). Uncanny valley | Definition, Origin, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/uncanny-valley

    Saneyoshi, A. (2022, October). The other-race effect in the uncanny valley. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 166(102871). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jihcs.2022.102871