On November 11th, IEAI Director Christoph Lütge and Research Associate Auxane Boch were invited to participate at the IAS-FRIS Symposium on Social Robots and Ethical Design at Kyushu University in Japan.
Christoph Lütge kicked off the day providing the keynote entitled: “Ethics of AI and Social Robotics: Challenges and Opportunites”. His talk explored the meaning of AI and technology through the lense of philosophy. Lütge cited philosopher Martin Heidegger’s critique of technology (hydroelectric plant on the Rhine River reduces the river to a mere energy supplier) and then introduced sociologist Armin Nassehi’s view that modern technology leads to a surplus of meaning. This surplus of meaning through the implementation of AI comes with opportunites, but also risks. Lütge then narrowed the focus to implications for social robotics, specifically used in healthcare.
Auxane Boch then spoke on “Psychological Insights for Human-Robot Interaction”. Her talk provided key guidelines for ethical and social robot design, which included:
- Transparency to manage expectations of users and their autonomy
- Customization based on the user’s abilities and needs
- Instillation of safeguarding measures to ensure the physical and emotional safety of users, as well as ensuring their dignity is honored
IAS-FRIS Organizer, Yueh-Hsuan Weng concluded the successful symposium with closing remarks.
