Over the past years we can observe profound reconfigurations of the boundaries between human beings and machines in the field
of artificial intelligence (AI) and computer science. Particularly software agents and robots attest to an ongoing paradigm
shift from machine-oriented concepts, algorithms and automats towards ‘interaction’ (see Wegner 1997, Crutzen 2003). While early approaches sought to model rational-cognitive processes and to solve problems using formal structures, the
emphasis is currently shifting to human-computer and human-robot interaction.
This chapter is a revised version of our paper published in: Archibald, Jacqueline; Emms, Judy; Grundy, Frances; Payne, Janet;
Turner, Eva (eds.): The Gender Politics of ICT. Middlesex University Press 2005. It was presented at the Women Into Computing
Conference, London 2005.