new technology in the human services

Taylor B (2001) Frankestein homes: would you want to live in one?
New Technology in the Human Services 14 (1 & 2), pp. 28-38


Abstract: The media have, in some instances, portrayed smart houses as Frankenstein homes that could potentially run amok with ruinous if not necessarily fatal consequences. Smart homes turn a simple robust system, a house, into a complex tightly coupled system, which means that the potential for failure is increased beyond that predicted by conventional risk analysis. There is some justification in these sensational media stories about smart homes. Furthermore, the lay persons perception of risk is based, not on the absolute risk assessments of experts, but on three more or less independent factors: dread risk, unknown risk, societal and personal exposure.

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The journal has now ceased publication (2003)