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# Bots of Conduct |
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_a workshop by Cristina Cochior and Manetta Berends for the department of Communication Design/Information Design at the University of Arts and Design, Halle (Germany) 2020_ |
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_based on a workshop Cristina Cochior and Joana Chicau did for Constant's work session [Collective Conditions](http://constantvzw.org/site/-Collective-Conditions,220-.html), Brussels 2019_ |
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### 15:30-16:00 - _collective digital infrastructures_ |
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[Varia](http://varia.zone/en/) is a collective-space [^1] in Rotterdam focused on everyday technologies. We keep a [trail of photographs](https://vvvvvvaria.org/archive/) of what we've done. |
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Together, we try to experiment with various free software [tools](https://varia.zone/en/pages/collective-infrastructures.html) for collaborative processes, as well as collective infrastructure making and [self-hosting](https://varia.zone/images/variaecosystem.png). |
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In October 2019, we wrote our own first [CoC](https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/coc). |
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In June 2019, during [Relearn Rotterdam](http://relearn.be/2019/), some of the participants had discussions about [codes of conduct and conducting codes](https://gitlab.com/relearn/relearn2019/raw/master/relearn.local/var/www/html/etherdump/publish/conductable) and bots of conduct. |
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**Infrapunctural bots for stress relief** |
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Inspired by the potential of [digital infrapunctures](https://www.slideshare.net/debver/towards-a-model-of-digital-infrapuncture) by Deb Verhoeven, we would like to propose considering what a bot logic might look like: |
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- where platform logic accumulates, bot logic disperses |
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- where platform logic centralises, bot logic fragments |
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- where platform logic creates distance between user and infrastructure, bot logic develops an intimate knowledge of the platform |
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- where platform logic reinforces habitual behaviour, bot logic encourages new habit formation |
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A few examples: |
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* [Politwoops](https://www.politwoops.eu/search?group=7&q=*&politicians=no) |
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* [Arguetron](https://twitter.com/arguetron?lang=en) |
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* [CluebotNG](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:ClueBot_NG) |
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* [How to do anything](https://mastodon.social/@wikihow) |
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**What would bots of conduct act like?** |
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What would it mean to become more entangled with bots, redistribute the labour of making and maintaining a collective, but without falling into the metaphorical understanding of bot as a servant? |
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Varia members use [XMPP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMPP ) as a chat protocol because it enables us to self-host our own instance and [federate with other chat servers](http://varia.zone/images/varia_s2s_federation.svg). We use bots both to communicate and to document our exchanges. Our initial idea was to develop new forms of note-taking based on our interaction habits. We share a lot of different types of information in group chats, from news to recommendations of articles to instigations to clean the fridge. Starting from the conversational nature of our exchanges, we are experimenting with two different bot-users in the chat: one that gathers images shared on the main Varia channel and displays them online, and another one, focused specifically on the topic of digital interdependencies, that gathers images, quotes and looks for books' citations. |
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Working on our own digital infrastructure allows us to adapt the tools to our own needs and behaviours; meaning that these bots make sense to us, but they may not make sense to someone else. |
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<img src="https://git.vvvvvvaria.org/ccl/bots-of-conduct/raw/commit/d5b8aead93dddd6ef45e008de5101879445e0e45/log_bot_01.jpg" width="300"> <img src="https://git.vvvvvvaria.org/ccl/bots-of-conduct/raw/commit/d5b8aead93dddd6ef45e008de5101879445e0e45/log_bot_02.jpg" width="300"> |
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Currently, we use: |
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* [Streambot](https://git.vvvvvvaria.org/varia/xmpp.streambot): a bot that saves the images sent to the main Varia group chat and creates an [html page](https://vvvvvvaria.org/stream/) for them. |
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* [Logbot](https://git.vvvvvvaria.org/varia/logbot): a bot that [logs](https://vvvvvvaria.org/logs/) the quotes that are sent to it. |
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* You can find a genealogy of the bots around Varia in this footnote [^2] |
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<br> |
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### _bot as conductor or bot as conductive_ |
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* create an account and [choose nickname](https://conversejs.org/fullscreen.html#converse/register ) on conversejs |
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* once you are logged in, join the group chat named botsofconduct@muc.vvvvvvaria.org |
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<br> |
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_Conducting: "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conducting. There are many roles as conductors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conductor also, in connection to the enviroment: "a substance, body, or device that readily conducts heat, electricity, sound"._ |
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<br> |
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Looking into the bots [examples](https://git.vvvvvvaria.org/ccl/bots-of-conduct) |
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<br> |
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**_name:_** transit.py; |
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**_action mode:_** announces when someone enters or leaves the room; |
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**_situation:_** finding non-verbal ways of communicating through presence and absence; making presence felt otherwise; |
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<br> |
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**_name:_** gather.py; |
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**_action mode:_** generates a shared language; it creates a collective document; |
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**_situation:_** a collective discursive setting that generates its own vocabulary; |
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<br><br> |
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**_name:_** greet.py; |
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**_action mode:_** sends a message when it enters the room; |
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**_situation:_** when there is a theme, for example: "send a reference to an existing or imaginary code of conduct, complaint, guideline, bug report, open letter, license or other social-technical protocol and explain why it is of interest to you."; how one wants to be introduced; |
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<br><br> |
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**_name:_** spark.py; |
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**_action mode:_** replies to a specific word; brings alternatives into the situation; tries to create new habits and terminologies; |
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**_situation:_** potentially in moments when a situation seems difficult and there is a need for more joyful interactions; |
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<br><br> |
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**_name:_** whisper.py |
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**_action mode:_** takes what someone says to it in confidentiality and echoes it to a group chat, thus anonymising it; |
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**_situation:_** there are remarks or complaints in the room, but the person does not feel comfortable to bring up the issue themselves; |
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<br> |
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Split into groups of maximum 4-5 (mixed interest in code). |
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<br> |
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**_BREAK — 10 minutes ;)_** |
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<br> |
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### 16:00-16:10 — _choose your group_ |
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We move to [an Etherpad](https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/botsofconduct.workshop-Burg-Halle). |
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### 16:10-16:30 — _creating situations_ |
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Imagine you are a collective-space with your group peers and you have been active for 5 days; |
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* **create a name for the chatroom:** |
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* or rooms /sites of action/ environments ..to open up the imagination of what a chatroom may be like! |
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* **imagine situations:** |
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* from your own experiences working in collaboration, or with a collective, or having read a CoC, try to recall a specific moment which can define an action mode; |
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* **action modes: embody the situation through a conductor / conductive bot:** |
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* in relation to the situation, does your bot act as conductor or as conductive? |
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* what are your "action modes" (for eg.: sitting; dancing; witnessing; listening; gathering; greeting; sparking; whispering; reminders is a specific kind of action); |
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* action modes that create or perform within specific situations (for eg.:conversation is unbalanced); |
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* what apart from language can be used as a way of conducting? what other modes of non-linguistic expression? |
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* **further questions:** |
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* how could the bot be physically enacted? what gestures would it perform? |
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* some (non-exhaustive) attributes of bot behaviour: iteration, repetition, lack of memory, other temporalities (duration / tempo); |
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* will your bot perform in other space extensions? speaking to other (chat)rooms? to other spatial formats (file systems, like the gather.py which uses a txt file for adding words to a glossary); |
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* will your bot be a channel between private to public? semi-public to semi-public? semi-public to private? private to private? |
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* will your bot relate to other bots? thinking of distance and proximities between members and bots: is it listening to a specific member? is it listening to other bots? |
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<br><br> |
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### 16:30-16:45 - _break_ |
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<br><br> |
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### 16:45-18:00 - _bot in the situation_ |
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* experimenting with bots: either adapt the ones we provided (experiment with code) or enact the bots' behaviours iteratively (bot behaviour); |
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* bot behaviour: iterations, repetition, ... |
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### _installing and running the bots_ (optional) |
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**For computers running Windows OS** |
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* install [Anaconda](https://docs.anaconda.com/anaconda/install/windows/) with python 3 |
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**For computers running MacOS** |
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* open the terminal |
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* check which version of python you have: |
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> python -V |
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* if you have a python 2 version, you could install [Anaconda](https://docs.anaconda.com/anaconda/install/mac-os/) with python 3 |
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**For computers running Linux OS** |
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* open the terminal |
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* check which version of python you have: |
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> python -V |
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> python3 -V |
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* if you have a python 2 version, you could install python 3 |
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> sudo apt-get install python3 |
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> sudo apt-get install python3-pip |
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* download the bots from this page |
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* go to the folder where you have installed them |
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* run the following commands in the terminal: |
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> pip3 install slixmpp requests |
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* to run a bot, you can copy paste the commands which are already mentioned in the bot file, but a general command looks like this: |
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> python3 bot.py -d -j administratorbot@conversejs.org -r botsofconduct@muc.vvvvvvaria.org -n bot -p testing |
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* where: |
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- j stands for JID (jabber id) |
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- r means room |
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- n stands for bot nickname |
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- o stands for for output |
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- . means here |
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* if you dont have a code editor, we can suggest (among others) [Sublime Text](https://www.sublimetext.com/) |
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* to install the conversations app on your phone, you could use either Conversations or [Quicksy](https://quicksy.im/) for Android phones (among others) |
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<br><br> |
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<br><br> |
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### 18:00-18:30 - _discussion and performing_ |
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<br><br> |
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### Footnotes |
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**Link to references [pad](https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/Bots_of_Conduct_References) — further references and materials assembled by Joana and Cristina - feel free to add your own!** |
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[^1]: Varia is not merely a collective, nor merely a space. Varia is an interdependent concatenation of both |
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[^2]: |
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* https://gitlab.com/relearn/relearn2017/blob/master/xmpp-bots/timekeeper-bot/timekeeper.py (Relearn 2017) |
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* https://gitlab.com/relearn/relearn2017/blob/master/xmpp-bots/collection-bot/collection-bot.py (Relearn 2017) |
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* https://gitlab.com/relearn/relearn2017/tree/master/xmpp-bots/archive-bot (Relearn 2017) |
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* https://gitlab.com/relearn/relearn2017/blob/master/xmpp-bots/cake-bot/cake-bot.py (Relearn 2017) |
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* https://gitlab.com/lidia_p/author-is-not-present/ (Bots by Lidia and Cristina, 2019) |
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