Engineering Gaze Case Study

Abstract

This case study presents the concept of the "engineering gaze," a critical theory borrowed from feminist analyses of the "male gaze." It discusses how engineers, in particular software and AI engineers, are socialized to perceive themselves as objective, rational solvers who stand outside of the worlds that they construct. Reminding us of artificial intelligence's past, the study traces how mathematical, engineering, and psychological disciplinary imaginations affected underlying assumptions of what defines a problem and how solutions are formulated, in turn potentially oversimplifying intricate social issues into technical issues at the cost of ethics, justice, and social impacts. The case contrasts this ideology with calls by scholars and practitioners for more thoughtful, inter-disciplinary approaches that acknowledge critical understandings from the humanities and social sciences. Through analysis of the heritage of the early AI pioneers and engineering education today, the study encourages students to question the myth of value-neutral technology. It invites reflection on whether engineering's laser-like focus on abstraction and efficiency has contributed to the crises of bias, discrimination, and accountability failures in AI today. Lastly, the case argues that transforming engineering education and practice requires us to humble ourselves to interdisciplinarity and ethical engagement with the social worlds technologies mediate.