Panel Discussion
At the panel discussion "AI, robots and us – how do we shape our future together?" I am joining other experts from research and business to talk about the use of artificial intelligence in robotics, the current status of robot development and the possible effects on our society.
Members of the panel:
Moderator: Dr. Florence Randrianarisoa ("Quarks") |
Image: SCIENCE(f)t FUN
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The "KI-Talk" series of events is part of the reorientation of the Deutsches Museum Bonn into a forum for artificial intelligence. It is offered as an hybrid event with the support of the WISSENschaf(f)t SPASS association and organised by Deutsches Museum Bonn.
To get more details and read more about the event, follow the link: https://www.deutsches-museum.de/bonn/presse/meldung/diskussionsrunde-ki-roboter-und-wir
To get more details and read more about the event, follow the link: https://www.deutsches-museum.de/bonn/presse/meldung/diskussionsrunde-ki-roboter-und-wir
Media Coverage
The full paper I authored and presented at the RO-MAN'21 conference together with Dr. Astrid Weiss and Dr. Vicky Charisi have received some media coverage from the online media "Heise Online". It is clear from reading the short news articles that the journalist Hans-Arthur Marsiske have read our paper with interest and convey fairly what our study aimed to bring into discussion on trust in human-robot interaction. At the bottom of the articles there is also a public vote on the attitude towards developing robots with more social and emotional abilities (746 people participated so far), which indicate a slight favor to considering it unnecessary.
As an early-stage researcher, it is great to see that the work is reaching also a broader audience than the usual academic groups of researchers. You can read the short news article (3 min read) via their website: https://www.heise.de/news/Mensch-Maschine-Beziehungen-Vertrau-mir-ich-bin-ein-Roboter-6164027.html
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Talking Robotics seminar
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Abstract: The practical value of studying trust in HRI rests on the assumption that in the long-term people will accept, interact, and collaborate more with robots that they trust or consider trustworthy. In this talk, I will present my research on vulnerability as a precondition of trust in HRI. In the first part I will present some theoretical perspectives to re-frame the current discussion. I will argue that while the most commonly cited definitions of trust used in HRI recognize vulnerability as an essential element of trust, it is also often considered somewhat problematic too. This is unfortunate as I will show that an emphasis on vulnerability is in fact the key to our understanding of trust in HRI and that previous empirical studies on vulnerability in HRI have failed to understand its significance. To conclude the theoretical part, I will reflect on how this strategy translates into empirical work. In the second part of my talk, I will present the results of two empirical studies I have undertaken to explore trust in HRI in relation to vulnerability. To study human vulnerability, I will present work from an online survey, and for the robot vulnerability I present work from expert interviews. When discussing how these studies contribute to current work on trust in HRI, I will also reflect on few ethical aspects related to this theme to end this talk.
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I had the pleasure of presenting some work from my PhD project at one of the Talking Robotics seminars. It was a great discussion and I appreciate the good feedback I got from my presentation!
TU Wien Informatics: interview
To promote the diversity of researchers at TU Wien Informatics, I was asked to participate in an interview conducted by PR manager Claudia Vitt. It was happy to get the opportunity to present myself and my work for the faculty and it was much fun to answer the questions, which was as follow:
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Since the interview in 2019, I have of course been working a lot on my PhD project and have now gained also much more knowledge and new skills. This interview still reflects, though, my basic perspective on my way into computer science and the basic approach I have to social robotics. Read the interview by following the link: https://informatics.tuwien.ac.at/news/1901
WTZ Ost pilot project: Social robotics in 360 degrees
As a WTZ Ost pilot project, in order to enhance knowledge transfer at the University of Vienna, I have spend some time during the spring 2017 working with artist and illustrator, Solmaz Farhang, on communicating my research on social robotics to non-experts. Below is the result of our work showing four different fictional ethnographic field observations taking place in the near future.
Read more about the WTZ Ost pilot project by following the link: https://www.wtz-ost.at/news/pilot-illustrationhub-360-meiner-forschung-wird-ausgebaut/ |
We spent the first couple of meetings discussing the research topic of social robotics and the illustrative possibilities considering the specific sociological perspective situated within the interpretive research tradition. Aiming to ensure that the illustration would capture aspects of social robotics research in an original and interesting way, we discussed together how to best bring the general public into the daily practice of a sociologist. After trying out some different ideas we decided on a conceptual level to shift from a third-person perspective of what the researchers do to a first-person perspective – presenting a sociologist in action. Accompanying this illustration was also an audio file with the fictional field-notes of the sociologist aiming to illustrate the data collection process of an ethnographer during fieldwork, which was recorded with the help of Daniel Meaner. Inspired by some recent technological developments we decided to try out the format of 360 degree illustration, which allowed the general public to actively explore the illustration thereby creating an immersive experience for the spectators. Retrospectively, the collaboration and work process was truly the outcome of mutual respect for each other’s competences and ideas, which enabled a free and creative space, in which we could together bring about something none of us had predicted in advance. We think the resulting work proved to be an innovative representation of sociological research into social robotics accessible to the general public, which can be used to facilitate public discussion on the many questions that need to be asked and addressed in a robot-supported society.
Semesterfrage: WHEN AN INTERFACE BECOMES THE FACE
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Every semester the University of Vienna is posing a questions, which they invite people to reflect upon and engage in a debate while try to answer it too. For this winter semester of 2016 the questions have been "how we are going to live in a digital future". As an employee I have contributed to the discussion by writing a short blog post. I had a lot of fun preparing this blog post not only because I could present some of my work and reflections on social robotics but also because I got the change to present it to the general public. The exercise is to communicate the research I do in a understandable manner and in a way that is interesting to those who might not be so familiar with the topic.
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Photo competition: MY RESEARCH IN ONE PICTURE
During the spring 2017 I participated in the photo competition “My Research in one Picture” organized by the University of Vienna. The competition aimed to help early stage researchers communicate their research to a general audience and to become more visible.
After an initial selection process, my photo was selected by the committee to continue to the second round in which a facebook vote placed it among the top 10 favourites. While my photo was exhibit during the prize ceremony for the other participants and committee to see, my photo did not rank among the top 3 unfortunately. However, it was a very good experience to present my work in a more visual format and I still believe that it captures the essence of much of my research back then. With my picture "Betwixt & Between" I tried to illustrate my work on social robotics from the perspective of sociology. |
Semesterfrage: Robot-Supported Health
For the semesterfrage "health from the laboratory - what is possible" organized by the University of Vienna I gave some examples of how robots are currently developed and used to improve the health of people and how the work in laboratories of robot engineers is going to play a significant role in the healthcare of tomorrow.
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