Author: Oliver Bendel

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A New Paper on Universal Robots

The paper “The Universal Robot of the 21st Century” by Oliver Bendel was published in February 2025 in the proceedings volume “Social Robots with AI: Prospects, Risks, and Responsible Methods” … From the abstract: “Developments in several areas of computer science, robotics, and social robotics make it seem likely that a universal robot will be available in the foreseeable future. Large language models for communication, perception, and control play a central role in this. This article briefly outlines the developments in the various areas and uses them to create the overall image of the universal robot. It then discusses the associated challenges from an ethical and social science perspective. It can be said that the universal robot will bring with it new possibilities and will perhaps be one of the most powerful human tools in physical space. At the same time, numerous problems are foreseeable, individual, social, and ecological.” The proceedings volume comprises the papers presented at Robophilosophy 2024 in Aarhus. Leading philosophers, computer scientists and roboticists met there in August. Like the ICSR, the conference is one of the world’s leading conferences on social robotics (Photo: Katharina Kühne).

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A Video About the ICSR 2023

ICSR is one of the leading conferences for social robotics worldwide. The 17th edition will take place from 10 to 12 September 2025 in Naples, Italy. Participants will meet for two days at the Parthenope University of Naples and for the third day at the Città della Scienza conference center. In 2023, the conference took place in Doha, Qatar. A video on YouTube by Hooman Samani provides insights into the presentations and events: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtgM8pTPw8c … It not only shows that numerous top-class presentations take place, but also that the members of the community are highly motivated and have a lot of fun. The high level of internationality and diversity of the conference should also be emphasized. The conference website of ICSR 2025 is online since January: icsr2025.eu.

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A Video About the ICSR 2024

ICSR is one of the leading conferences for social robotics worldwide. The 17th edition will take place from 10 to 12 September 2025 in Naples, Italy. Participants will meet for two days at the Parthenope University of Naples and for the third day at the Città della Scienza conference center. In 2024, the conference took place in Odense, Denmark. A video on YouTube by Hooman Samani provides insights into the presentations and events: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj6p2yguYBk … It not only shows that numerous top-class presentations take place, but also that the members of the community are highly motivated and have a lot of fun. The high level of internationality and diversity of the conference should also be emphasized. The conference website of ICSR 2025 is online since January: icsr2025.eu.

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Cute little AIBI

Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel’s privately funded Social Robots Lab has been home to little AIBI since January 2025. It comes from the Chinese company LivingAI. Other robots and figures in the Social Robots Lab are Cupboo AI Robotic Pet aka Boo Boo, Unitree Go2, Alpha Mini, Cozmo, Vector, Furby, Tamagotchi, and Hugvie. HUGGIE was dismantled at the beginning of 2025 and given to a student project in which the robot laughs with a synthetic or natural voice. NAO and Pepper visit the lab and the elective module on social robots from time to time. AIBI has various sensors, a camera, and three microphones. It understands voice commands. For more complex questions, it connects to ChatGPT. The face consists of a display in which it can show animated eyes and animated scenes of all kinds. It stands on a platform that allows it to rotate 360 degrees. It can also turn its head freely. Similar to Cozmo, it emits numerous sounds and tries to attract the user’s attention in this and other ways. Thanks to its magnets, it can be attached to the fridge and other metal surfaces, as well as to an included necklace, transforming it into a wearable. It also transforms with accessories, for example into a cat. Robot enhancement is therefore included and supplied by the company.

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The ICSR 2025 Website is Now Online

The ICSR is one of the leading conferences for social robotics worldwide. The 17th edition will take place from 10 to 12 September 2025 in Naples, Italy. The conference website is now online: icsr2025.eu. “The conference theme, ‘Emotivation at the Core: Empowering Social Robots to Inspire and Connect,’ highlights the essential role of ‘Emotivation’ in social robotics. Emotivation captures the synergy between emotion and motivation, where emotions trigger and sustain motivation during interactions. In social robotics, this concept is key to building trust, fostering empathy, and supporting decision-making by enabling robots to respond sensitively to human emotions, inspiring engagement and action.” (Website ICSR) The most important conferences dates are: Full Paper Submission: March 28th, 2025; Full Paper Notification: May 9th, 2025; Camera-ready: June 30th, 2025; Paper Presentation Days at ICSR’25: September 11th and 12th, 2025. All dates are also listed on the website. Participants will meet for two days at the Parthenope University of Naples and for the third day at the Città della Scienza conference center. All buildings and rooms are also listed on the website. Be part of this excellent conference (Photo: ICSR)!

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First Human-Robot Marathon

According to several media reports, humanoid robots will take part in a half marathon together with humans for the first time in Beijing in April 2025. Around 12,000 people will run the 21-kilometre course, accompanied by robots from more than 20 companies worldwide. The robots must look humanoid, be able to move on two legs, and be between 0.5 and 2 metres tall. The majority of the larger models are likely to be so-called all-purpose robots. Both remote-controlled and autonomous robots are permitted – with the option of changing batteries during the race. The premiere is part of a broader strategy by China to promote humanoid robots to achieve technological independence, boost the economy, and compete in the global technology race, especially with the US. Last year, the humanoid robot Galbot had already supported a marathon final, but this time the machines are running the full distance (Photo: Morio, CC BY-SA 3.0).

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13 Animal-Related Concepts and Artifacts

Since 2012, Oliver Bendel has developed 13 concepts and artifacts in the field of animal-computer interaction (ACI) or animal-machine interaction (AMI) together with his students. They can be divided into three categories. The first are animal- and nature-friendly concepts. The second are animal-friendly machines and systems (i.e., forms of moral machines). The third are animal-inspired machines and systems that replace the animals or bring them closer to you. Articles and book chapters have been published on many of the projects. The names of the developers can be found in these. A few prototypes made it into the media, such as LADYBIRD and HAPPY HEDGEHOG. Oliver Bendel repeatedly refers to Clara Mancini, the pioneer in the field of animal-computer interaction. Recently, ethicists such as Peter Singer have also turned their attention to the topic.

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22 Chatbots and Voice Assistants

Since 2013, Oliver Bendel has developed 22 chatbots and voice assistants together with his students or colleagues. They can be divided into three categories. The first are moral and immoral chatbots (i.e., forms of moral machines) and empathic voice assistants. The second are chatbots (some with voice output) for dead, endangered, or extinct languages and idioms. The third are pedagogical chatbots and chatbots that give recommendations and advice. Some of the projects lasted between four and six months. Most of the GPTs were created in just a few hours. Exceptions are Miss Tammy and Animal Whisperer, which took several months to build with the help of prompt engineering and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). Articles and book chapters have been published on many of the projects. The names of the developers can be found in these. A few chatbots made it into the media, such as GOODBOT (for which the preparatory work began in 2012), LÜGENBOT aka LIEBOT, and @llegra.

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kAIxo says “kaixo”

The final presentation of the “kAIxo” project took place on January 9, 2025. Nicolas Lluis Araya was the project team member. The FHNW School of Business has been developing chatbots for dead, endangered, and extinct languages for several years. A well-known example is @llegra, a chatbot for Vallader. In the spring of 2024, Oliver Bendel tested the reach of GPTs for endangered languages such as Irish (Irish Gaelic), Maori, and Basque. According to ChatGPT, there is a relatively large amount of training material for them. On May 12, 2024 – after Irish Girl and Maori Girl – a first version of Adelina, a chatbot for Basque, was created. It was later improved in a second version. As part of the “kAIxo” project (the Basque “kaixo” corresponds to the English “hello”), the chatbot kAIxo was built, which speaks Basque. Its purpose is to keep users practicing written or spoken language or to develop the desire to learn the endangered language. The chatbot is based on GPT-4o and Gemini 1.5 Flash, and the user can select his or her preferred large language model (LLM). Retrieval-augmented Generation (RAG) plays a central role. The ChatSubs dataset is used, which contains subtitles of movie dialogs in Basque. Thanks to a text-to-speech engine, the chatbot can also speak. At the final presentation, Nicolas Lluis Araya presented a working prototype that can be accessed via www.kaixo.ch.

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Cleop@tr@ Visits the Karnak Temple

Cleop@tr@ was invented by Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel in May 2024. It is a GPT that specializes in Egyptian. It is also familiar with the culture and history of ancient Egypt. Since 2012, the technology philosopher and information systems specialist has been building chatbots and voice assistants – partly with his students and partly on his own. These have been discussed by the media and found interesting by NASA. Under his supervision, Karim N’diaye developed the chatbot @ve for Latin, Dalil Jabou the voice-enhanced chatbot @llegra for Vallader, and Nicolas Lluis Araya the voice-enhanced chatbot kAIxo for Basque. For some time now, he has been testing the reach of GPTs for endangered languages such as Irish, Maori, and Basque. He is also investigating the potential for extinct languages such as Egyptian (Cleop@tr@) and Akkadian (H@mmur@pi). The GPTs do not readily communicate in hieroglyphics and cuneiform, but they can certainly represent and explain signs of visual languages. It is even possible to enter entire sentences and then ask how they can be improved or what they mean. In December 2024, Oliver Bendel tested his Cleop@tr@ in the Karnak Temple in Luxor. She was able to provide coherent explanations and translations for several inscriptions on columns and walls. However, further tests also revealed clear errors. Ultimately, Egyptologists will have to assess how reliable it is.