Interaction Design

The term ‘intelligence’ is particularly trendy: the artificial one comes with high expectations and deep fears. However, we don’t really ponder what it actually entails. The human-centered hierarchy of intelligence, placing humans at the top of a pyramid, has long justified the commodification and exploitation of animals, land, and natural resources. We establish our ‘domination’ over all other species and subsequent hierarchies by treating intelligence as a ladder. We use human intelligence as a comparative value, ignoring the singularity of each entity. It is, in a way, a tool of separation between “us” and “them” and the overwhelming factor determining how we interact with animals in a broad spectrum: how we treat, hunt, consume, sell, experiment with, raise, care, study, save, and protect them.

Recent ethological studies have shown that we can revisit this anthropocentric view by considering each species within its own milieu and constraints, without the need for comparison. The study of animal behaviour reframes agency. This perspective echoes in some respects diverse belief systems broadly animistic, where agency and personhood can be attributed to non-humans.

Social media is one of the most active arenas where such cultural perceptions and belief systems are visible and tangible. In an initial phase, this research project asks whether and how exposure to animal social media content may affect people’s perceptions of animal sentience, intelligence, and agency, and whether these changes are reflected in their behaviour towards animals. We also take this opportunity to bring experts from various disciplines together to discuss the term 'intelligence' from different perspectives.