acat seminar: send in the robots
DESCRIPTION
Slides for the seminar, Send in the Robots, presented as part of the Adventures in Culture & Technology Seminar series organised by the Centre for Culture and Technology (CCAT) at Curtin University, Western Australia. Robots are sent into dangerous situations in relation to work, war, disaster and exploration. Some of these robots are completely autonomous, deciding what actions to take based on their perceptions of the environment and knowledge of the task. More often, they are partially controlled by a human operator, and the relationship between the human and robot must be negotiated as it alters from full human control to full robot autonomy and back. Successful human-robot interactions are often understood to rely on the creation of humanoid robots that communicate in humanlike ways. However, the majority of the robots discussed in this seminar are not humanlike in form or communicative style. In spite of this, they form successful multi-skilled teams with humans. How do humans and robots communicate and work together in these contexts? What ethical issues are raised by the formation of these close-knit human-robot teams?TRANSCRIPT
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Adventures in Culture & Technology
Send in the Robots23.10.2013
Eleanor [email protected]
(Image courtesy of Benjamin Forster)
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Footer text - slideshow title
Key ideas:
Anthropomorphism and/or zoomorphism are unavoidable, and a vital aspect of communication with these robots
Communication is composed of verbal signs and non-verbal signs and meaning emerges from a system of overlapping interchange between communicators
Shared history and experience, developed by learning together (and then working together and surviving together) over time, supports fluent communication and also the possibility of interruption
30.07.2010
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Autonomous Light Air Vessels (ALAVs)
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Overtly non-humanoid machines
23.10.2013
Talon PackBot
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Getting (too) attached to military robots
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Getting (too) attached to military robots
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Sending robots to space (never to return)
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
The new breeds: humanoid and animal-like
23.10.2013
Atlas BigDog (now redeveloped as LS3)
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Goffman: ‘small behaviors’
“The ultimate behavioral materials are the glances, gestures, positionings, and verbal statements that people continually feed into the situation, whether intended or not. These are the external signs of orientation and involvement”
Erving Goffman, Interaction Ritual, 1967, p.1.
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Goffman: study relations (& individuals)
“I assume that the proper study of interaction is not the individual and his psychology, but rather the syntactical relations among the acts of different persons mutually present to one another.”
Erving Goffman, Interaction Ritual, 1967, p.2.
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Goffman: minimal model of actor
“None the less, since it is individual actors who contribute the ultimate materials, it will always be reasonable to ask what general properties they must have if this sort of contribution is to be expected of them.”
“What minimal model of the actor is needed if we are to wind him up, stick him in amongst his fellows, and have an orderly traffic of behavior emerge?”
Erving Goffman, Interaction Ritual, 1967, p.2&3.
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Finn & Scheding: issues with turn-taking
“At present, the human-UVS relationship (and hence the HMI) is usually based around some form of turn-taking behaviour, which can introduce delays and inefficiencies or even cause frustration. There is consequently a need to design HMI and UVS that work more fluently with their human partners.”
Anthony Finn & Steve Scheding, Challenges for Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles, 2010, p.50.
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Mars rovers: forced turn-taking and empathy
23.10.2013
Although communication with Mars rovers is committed to turn-taking (becauseof the technical constraints) empathy still develops.This may be because of the long term nature of the working relationship.Spirit and Opportunity survived far longer than the original 90-day plan.
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Finn & Scheding: the value of anticipation
“collaborative joint action relies upon the human and the UVS having the capacity to anticipate one another’s actions.”
Anthony Finn & Steve Scheding, Challenges for Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles, 2010, p.50.
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Hoffman: anticipation & fluency
“Anticipation is a … crucial mechanism in achieving fluency in joint action. Anticipating world states, as well as the actions of a collaboration partner, enable an agent to time its actions precisely and … has a significant effect on the human teammate’s notion of the agent’s commitment and contribution to the task.”
Guy Hoffman, Ensemble: Fluency and Embodiment for Robots Acting with Humans, 2007, p.24-25 (PhD Thesis).
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
AUR: a robotic lighting assistant
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Teamwork with AUR
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Fogel: co-regulation and continuous process
“Co-regulation arises as part of a continuous process of communication, not as the result of an exchange of messages borne by discrete communication signals.”
Alan Fogel, Developing through relationships: origins of communication,self and culture, 1993, p.6.
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Luhmann: emergence of communication
“in a systems-theoretic approach it is the very emergence of communication that is emphasized. Nothing is transmitted. Redundancy is created in the sense that the communication creates a memory that can be called on by many persons in quite different ways.”
Niklas Luhmann, “What is Communication?”, 1992, p.254.
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Send in the Robots, Eleanor Sandry
Lotman: boundaries and new information
“semiotic space is transected by numerous boundaries, each message that moves across it must be many times translated and transformed, and the process of generating new information thereby snowballs.”
Yuri M. Lotman, Universe of the Mind, 1990, p.140.
23.10.2013
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Footer text - slideshow title
Key ideas:
Anthropomorphism and/or zoomorphism are unavoidable, and a vital aspect of communication with these robots
Communication is composed of verbal signs and non-verbal signs and meaning emerges from a system of overlapping interchange between communicators
Shared history and experience, developed by learning together (and then working together and surviving together) over time, supports fluent communication and also the possibility of interruption
30.07.2010
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Footer text - slideshow title
Questions:
Have you ever named a machine (a car/computer/robot) and did you/do you empathise with that machine?
What jobs do you think robots should be designed to carry out? (Would you like a robot in your home, and what would you like it to be able to do?)
What do you think robots should look like?
30.07.2010