Category: Robophilosophy

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Talk by Hiroshi Ishiguro

On the fourth day of Robophilosophy 2024, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Professor at the Department of Systems Innovation in the Graduate School of Engineering Science at Osaka University, gave a talk entitled “AI Avatars and the Future Society”. From the abstract: “In this lecture, the presenter will report on the research and development of remotely operated robots and CG agents, also known as avatars. Avatar technology has advanced significantly in recent years, thanks to progress in AI technology. We will discuss the various services that can be deployed using avatars and the kind of society we can realize as a result.” (Website Robophilosophy 2024) After the lecture, the roboticist was questioned by Raja Chatila, Sorbonne University (France), and Mihaela Constantinescu, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Bucharest (Romania). Hiroshi Ishiguro had been a regular guest at Robophilosophy. In 2018, he appeared on site in Vienna.

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Talk on Universal Robots

On the fourth day of Robophilosophy 2024, Oliver Bendel, Professor at the FHNW School of Business, gave a talk entitled “The Universal Robot of the 21st Century”. 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 for the mass market 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.” (Website Robophilosophy 2024) This was followed by an intensive plenary discussion on the design and usefulness of universal robots. In an individual discussion, Oliver Bendel suggested designing universal robots like early humans or apes. They can move on all fours, but can also stand up on two legs if the situation requires it. This would at least solve some of the safety problems posed by bipeds.

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On Metamorphoses in the Factory

The Workshop “The Social Significance of Human Effort – What Are the Parameters For Positive Human-Robot Interaction In the Context of Industry 5.0?” took place on the third day of Robophilosophy 2024. Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel gave the lecture “Metamorphoses in the Factory. From Classic Industrial Robots over Cobots and Classic Service Robots to Universal Robots”. From the abstract: “Robots play an important role in industry. In recent years, there have been interesting innovations in production and logistics. Large classic industrial robots are turning into small cobots. Cobots become service robots. Classic service robots are discovering the factory. Metamorphoses are taking place. This talk hypothesizes that recent developments will have a significant impact on workers and work. In particular, the precursors of universal robots could significantly change the factory of the future, just as they will change society as a whole. After all, with universal robots, the boundaries between industrial and service robots are becoming increasingly blurred.” (Website Robophilosophy 2024)

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The Social Significance of Human Effort

The third day of Robophilosophy 2024 featured numerous presentations and several workshops. The workshop “The Social Significance of Human Effort – What Are the Parameters For Positive Human-Robot Interaction In the Context of Industry 5.0?” was organized by the renowned Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies (Pisa, Italy). The moderators were Professors Alberto Pirni and Paolo Dario as well as Oliver Bendel from the FHNW School of Business. They also presented, as did other participants such as Nicola Vitiello, Leonardo Massantini, Danica Kragic Jensfelt, and Margherita Pugnaletto. From the workshop abstract: “This workshop aims to develop a roadmap for understanding the impact of robotics on human employment within the context of Industry 5.0. The workshop explores key factors in this transition, including the risks and benefits of digital automation, ethical considerations regarding worker skills and well-being, and protective measures for workers and consumers. Focusing on the theme of sociocultural risks: devaluation of human labor, the workshop aims to reflect on traditional notions of work, productivity, and the value of human labor in the era of advancing robotics and automation. It challenges the concept of labor devaluation, assesses its impact on worker recognition and efficiency, and questions meritocratic paradigms. To facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue, the workshop engages philosophers and engineers in addressing ethical dilemmas in technology development. It explores the social significance of human effort and movement when interacting with autonomous robots and occupational exoskeletons. By examining these technologies’ adaptability and role in human-machine interaction, especially in workplaces, the workshop intends to contribute to discussions on technological advances and their societal implications.” (Website Robophilosophy 2024)

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Keynote by David Chalmers

On the second day of Robophilosophy 2024, David Chalmers, an Australian philosopher and cognitive scientist, gave a keynote speech entitled “Does Generative AI Extend the Mind?”. From the website: “Prof. Chalmers is known worldwide, also outside of philosophy, for his contributions to consciousness research in ‘The Character of Consciousness’ (2010), and in particular for identifying more clearly than anyone the tasks for a philosophical account of consciousness (‘the hard problem’ of consciousness). Since recent advances in AI bring Chalmers’ thought experiment of ‘philosophical zombies’ closer to reality, in his current research he combines philosophy and a longstanding interest in AI for the exploration of the status of virtual reality … and the likelihood of creating artificial systems that fulfil the criteria of consciousness.” (Website Robophilosophy 2024) A key statement was: “As social AI systems become increasingly agent-like, they will decreasingly extend the mind …” The final statement was: “The quest for agency and sociality in robotsmay stand in tension with considerations of both efficiency and morality.” The audience applauded the witty and humorous talk.

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Keynote by Anthony Elliott

On the second day of Robophilosophy 2024, Anthony Elliott, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of South Australia, gave a keynote speech entitled “May AI Be With You: Agency and Automation in the Age of Algorithmic Modernity”. From the abstract: “From industrial robots to ChatGPT, and from driverless cars to military drones: AI is transforming all aspects of our lives, from the changing nature of work, employment and unemployment to the most intimate aspects of personal relationships. In this presentation, Anthony Elliott focuses on the complex systems of AI – spanning intelligent machines, chatbots, advanced robotics, accelerating automation, big data – and their centrality to new forms of social interaction, organizational life and governance. He argues, provocatively, that today modernity has come to mean smartphones, tablets, cloud computing, big data, automated recommendation systems and predictive analytics. This has heralded the arrival of what he terms ‘algorithmic modernity’, an altogether new ‘stage’ in the ordering techniques of envisioned human mastery. In this automated order of algorithmic modernity, human agency is increasingly outsourced to smart machines. We should understand this phenomenon, Elliott argues, in terms of a containment of both uncertainty and complexity which the digital revolution in social relations poses, but which ultimately denies answers.” (Website Robophilosophy 2024) In his presentation, the sociologist emphasised the risks of AI rather than the opportunities. The photo shows David Gunkel announcing Anthony Elliott’s lecture – he is sitting on the far left.

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Keynote by Wendell Wallach

On the first day of Robophilosophy 2024, Wendell Wallach, one of the fathers of machine ethics, gave a keynote speech entitled “Re-envisioning Ethics: From Moral Machine to Extensive Regulation”. From the abstract: “Have we been underestimating the socio-technical challenges posed by ro(bot)s – physical systems and virtual bots? Many of the complexities inherent in managing intelligent systems can not be adequately met by scientific innovation, existing ethical constraints, or weak regulations forged by legislatures under the capture of the AI oligopoly.  In spite of naive future projections, the science we have, and are likely to have in the near future, will not produce AI systems capable of making even satisfactory choices in complex situations where uncertainty reigns, multiple values converge, and the information available is inadequate to project meaningful consequences for various courses of action. AI will pose safety and security risks far beyond those being addressed by the pittance of investment presently directed to build trustworthy systems. Scientific humility is needed. Ethics must be reenvisioned and empowered to work through the plethora of socio-technical obstacles and trials ahead. A vast infrastruture to ensure AI safety will be required.” (Website Robophilosophy 2024) Wendell Wallach went far beyond these hints and gave an overview of the advances and setbacks in machine ethics and AI ethics in recent decades.

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Living Skin on an Artificial Face

Scientists from The University of Tokyo have succeeded in applying living skin to a robot face. In their article “Perforation-type anchors inspired by skin ligament for robotic face covered with living skin” they write: “Skin equivalent, a living skin model composed of cells and extracellular matrix, possesses the potential to be an ideal covering material for robots due to its biological functionalities. To employ skin equivalents as covering materials for robots, a secure method for attaching them to the underlying structure is required. In this study, we develop and characterize perforation-type anchors inspired by the structure of skin ligaments as a technique to effectively adhere skin equivalents to robotic surfaces. To showcase the versatility of perforation-type anchors in three-dimensional (3D) coverage applications, we cover a 3D facial mold with intricate surface structure with skin equivalent using perforation-type anchors. Furthermore, we construct a robotic face covered with dermis equivalent, capable of expressing smiles, with actuation through perforation-type anchors. With the above results, this research introduces an approach to adhere and actuate skin equivalents with perforation-type anchors, potentially contributing to advancements in biohybrid robotics.” (Abstract) The result is an inverted or reversed cyborg. Oliver Bendel uses this term for technical structures that are supplemented with biological structures. It is also – another term used by Oliver Bendel – robot enhancement. There is no doubt that there will be more and more developments like this. Humans will become cyborgs, and robots will become reversed cyborgs (Image: Ideogram).

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UFSKW Paper-of-the-Month Award

The article “‘Ick bin een Berlina’: dialect proficiency impacts a robot’s trustworthiness and competence evaluation” by Katharina Kühne, Erika Herbold, Oliver Bendel, Yuefang Zhou, and Martin H. Fischer has been granted the UFSKW Paper-of-the-Month Award for March 2024. All authors are researchers in the Potsdam Embodied Cognition Group (PECoG) at the University of Potsdam, with the exception of Oliver Bendel, who works at the FHNW School of Business and is an associated researcher in the group. “UFSKW” stands for “Universitärer Forschungsschwerpunkt Kognitionswissenschaften”. It is based at the University of Potsdam. The UFSKW Paper of the Month provides a special stage for current cognitive science research at the UFSKW. It is chosen monthly by the selection committee from all submissions. The paper says about the background of the project: “Robots are increasingly used as interaction partners with humans. Social robots are designed to follow expected behavioral norms when engaging with humans and are available with different voices and even accents. Some studies suggest that people prefer robots to speak in the user’s dialect, while others indicate a preference for different dialects.” The following results are mentioned: “We found a positive relationship between participants’ self-reported Berlin dialect proficiency and trustworthiness in the dialect-speaking robot. Only when controlled for demographic factors, there was a positive association between participants’ dialect proficiency, dialect performance and their assessment of robot’s competence for the standard German-speaking robot. Participants’ age, gender, length of residency in Berlin, and device used to respond also influenced assessments. Finally, the robot’s competence positively predicted its trustworthiness.” The article can be accessed at www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2023.1241519/full.

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Spot Dances in a Dog Costume

Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel introduced the term “robot enhancement” in 2020 and has since used it in several articles and book chapters. Robot enhancement is the extension and associated modification or improvement of the robot by the user or a company, for example in functional, aesthetic, ethical or economic terms. The word was coined in reference to “human enhancement” and “animal enhancement”, and can be used to describe both the field of work and the object. One form of robot enhancement is social robot enhancement, in which a social robot is enhanced or modified and improved. An impressive example of robot enhancement is shown in a video by Boston Dynamics. A “naked” spot and a spot with a dog costume dance together in the hall where Atlas used to be seen again and again. Such robot enhancement should not necessarily be imitated by the user. There are some robots that cannot stand the costume and will heat up – to the point of becoming defective (Photo: YouTube/Boston Dynamics).