Capital and CHI: Technological Capture and How It Structures CHI Research

2025-01-23

AI Summary

This paper critically examines how capital structurally shapes the research agenda and value orientations of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) through a novel mechanism termed “technological capture.” Method: Drawing on political economy and critical discourse analysis, the study develops an original theoretical framework—“technological capture”—that decomposes HCI practice into four capital-directed modes: market creation, market expansion, market alignment, and externality reduction. It systematically maps the value spectra across HCI subfields via conceptual analysis and discourse critique. Contribution/Results: The framework transcends conventional discipline- or venue-centric perspectives, reconceptualizing HCI as a practice domain deeply embedded in capitalist logics. It offers a new paradigm for interrogating technology ethics, academic autonomy, and the political economy of computing, advancing HCI scholarship from technological determinism toward critical infrastructure studies.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Human-Computer Interaction
• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Social Cognition And Interaction

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Research challenges in human and human-AI computation
• Responsible Web: Human-perceived consequences of algorithmic deployment on the web
• Social Networks and Social Media: Computational social science

Abstract

This paper advances a theoretical argument about the role capital plays in structuring CHI research. We introduce the concept of technological capture to theorize the mechanism by which this happens. Using this concept, we decompose the effect on CHI into four broad forms: technological capture creates market-creating, market-expanding, market-aligned, and externality-reducing CHI research. We place different CHI subcommunities into these forms -- arguing that many of their values are inherited from capital underlying the field. Rather than a disciplinary- or conference-oriented conceptualization of the field, this work theorizes CHI as tightly-coupled with capital via technological capture. The paper concludes by discussing some implications for CHI.

Problem

• Capital
• Technological Capture
• Human-Computer Interaction (CHI)

Innovation

• Technological Capture
• Capital Influence
• CHI Evolution