Six Lessons for a More-than-Human ‘Smart’ City from a Disabled Cyborg
Laura Forlano · 2024
Abstract This chapter offers six lessons for a more-than-human ‘smart’ city. These observations about computing are derived from my experience as a Disabled Cyborg; a personal experience of ‘living with’ technology. As a Disabled Cyborg, I’m keenly aware of the ways in which categories of the natural and the artificial are blurred. Specifically, I use a short excerpt of alert and alarm data from a medical device—a ‘smart’ insulin pump and sensor system that I use for managing Type 1 diabetes—to illustrate several concepts that are useful for thinking about the role of technology in the world. While these concepts—cyborg, error, labour, energy, data ownership/privacy, and art—might seem straightforward at first glance, they are often overlooked. Since my experience living with technology is existential in that it is literally keeping me alive—rather than merely efficient or convenient—I’m reminded of these lessons on a daily basis.