The Varieties of Agency in Human–Smart Device Relationships: The Four Agency Profiles
At the interest of intelligent/smart devices in growing, this paper explores the concept of agency in human-smart device relationships, focusing on two key aspects:
- User agency: The self-perceived abilities of users to operate and control their devices.
- Device agency: The capacities that users attribute to their smart devices.
The study introduces four agency profiles that characterize different types of human-smart device relationships:
- Controller: High user agency, low device agency
- Collaborator: High user agency, high device agency
- Victim: Low user agency, high device agency
- Detached: Low user agency, low device agency
Figure below presents an intuitive idea of the research: