Autonomous economic agents

The paper reports on the development of a further series of IoT prototypes that can be described as Autonomous Economic Agents. The phrase coined by BBC science correspondents to describe the advent of machines that obtain their own agency through being equipped with cryptocurrency wallets, has stimulated a series of design projects that aim to better understand the implication of such devices. The paper uses a series of three hairdryers that were developed with the EU Policy Lab to extend a conversation about the concepts of autonomy and power that operate across Internets of Things. The hairdryers are useful props in understanding the `imaginaries' that the public have toward energy, and the challenges in introducing `decentralised' technologies that either require people to take more control (do more work), or relinquish control (rely on a machine to do the work for them).