This research is situated within the field of interaction design, functioning both as a design study and, through an exploration of the combined analysis of film props and intelligent technologies, a demonstration that these two categories of objects share more commonalities than previously recognised. In particular, props offer valuable insights for rethinking the design of intelligent technologies, highlighting the importance of their performative and relational dimensions. One prevailing challenge with intelligent technologies lies in their carefully engineered yet often opaque development processes, which obscure the full ramifications of their societal impact. Examining technology through the lens of props offers a novel perspective that foregrounds the consequences of its use, and its entanglement within situated practices. This approach brings together critical perspectives from design and methodologies from science and technology studies, offering an alternative framework for understanding and engaging with intelligent technologies. Interaction design has traditionally functioned as an intermediary between people and machines, aiming to enhance usability, efficiency, enjoyment or accessibility. However, it often remains limited to the immediate interaction, falling short of engaging with the broader implications of technological systems. This narrow focus tends to overlook the agency of intelligent technology for its capacity to influence human behaviour and social structures at larger scales. Films offers a unique laboratory for exploring the fragility of the relationship between humans and their tools, revealing processes of instrumentalisation both on screen and on set. By studying technological props, I propose that intelligent technologies should be understood as integral elements in a wider chain of relations involving humans, non-humans, and other machines. This perspective forms the basis of what I conceptualise as technological relatedness. The thesis argues that interactive objects operate not only at the level of individual interaction but also at a social level, drawing on Bruno Latour’s (1992) theory of mediation, to reveal how technology both mediates action and participates in the shaping of social realities. This thesis is organised into five case studies, each focusing on a technological prop scripted into the films of Stanley Kubrick. What distinguishes the selected objects is not only their active role within the narrative but also their capacity to exert influence—either within the film, on the set, or across both domains. The cases are treated as opportunities to examine the mediating roles of props. In the first phase, each prop is analysed through the framework of actor–network theory in order to construct a new narrative centred on relationality. In the second phase, they are compared with other props through their ability to solve social issues in films. In the final phase, they are reconfigured through the concept of technological relatedness. The objects are Private Pyle’s M14 rifle (Full Metal Jacket, 1987), the Ludovico Treatment (A Clockwork Orange, 1971), Dr Strangelove’s glove (Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, 1964), HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968), and David and Gigolo Joe (A.I. Artificial Intelligence, 2001). The chapters are organised according to the degree of mechanisation of the human, progressing from low to high, and concluding with an analysis of the humanness of machines as a mirrored reflection. The main question concerns the development of technology, identifying performative relationships with props within the selected films, and subsequently reconfiguring them into technological relatedness through a process of translation. Specifically, I ask whether the study of the relationship between an actor or character and a performance prop or enacted technology in film can offer a pathway toward the reconfiguration of technology beyond instrumentalisation. This question is particularly significant given that the objects examined originate in fiction, yet the aim is to translate them back into reality. The findings reveal four modes of relatedness with technology, each framed through symmetry, networks, and the role of technology as a social relay: training as a mode of engagement with the collective, control as plurality, technological relations through instauration, and the socialness of machines. Together, these modes suggest that intelligent technologies could be reconfigured to operate within networks of relatedness, where instrumentalisation is understood as part of a collective common rather than a source of individual privilege or convenience.

Some elements of this thesis have been redacted due to reasons of copyright