What can robots teach us about ourselves?
Fifty years ago, the Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori coined the term “Uncanny Valley”. This term described his observation: as robots appear more and more humanlike, they suddenly give us the creeps.
Why do humanoid robots cause these reflexes of disgust and anxiety? Do we merely experience an emotional fear, or do we maybe even feel threatened in our very humanity? What do we do with these reflexes and how do they (potentially) shape our interactions with robots? Can we avoid the uncanny valley? These are important questions to answer to streamline future robotics advancements. During this event we want to approach these questions from different perspectives: engineering, ethics, and philosophy.
Speakers:
- Dr.ir. J.C.F. (Joost) de Winter (associate professor). In his research, Dr.ir. De Winter focusses on the experimental quantification of interaction between humans and robots. Joost de winter will provide a data driven perspective on the uncanny valley.
- Dr.ir. M. (Martijntje) Smits (Philosopher of Science & Technology). Senior researcher, lecturer, author and speaker. Main subject: Social Controversies on new science & technology. Martijntje will provide a philosophical perspective on the subject.
- Dr. Maria Luce Lupetti is Assistant Professor in Design at the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering. Her current research, at the intersection of design, ethics, AI and robotics, is focused on understanding and designing responsible human-technology relations.
