The paper „Miss Tammy as a Use Case for Moral Prompt Engineering“ by Myriam Rellstab and Oliver Bendel from the FHNW School of Business was accepted at the AAAI 2025 Spring Symposium „Human-Compatible AI for Well-being: Harnessing Potential of GenAI for AI-Powered Science“. It describes the development of a chatbot that can be available to pupils and de-escalate their conflicts or promote constructive dialogues among them. Prompt engineering – called moral prompt engineering in the project – and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) were used. The centerpiece is a collection of netiquettes. On the one hand, these control the behavior of the chatbot – on the other hand, they allow it to evaluate the behavior of the students and make suggestions to them. Miss Tammy was compared with a non-adapted standard model (GPT-4o) and performed better than it in tests with 14- to 16-year-old pupils. The project applied the discipline of machine ethics, in which Oliver Bendel has been researching for many years, to large language models, using the netiquettes as a simple and practical approach. The eight AAAI Spring Symposia will not be held at Stanford University this time, but at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront, Burlingame, from March 31 to April 2, 2025. It is a conference rich in tradition, where innovative and experimental approaches are particularly in demand.
The first two days of ICSR 2025 will be held „on the industrial side of Naples“. This has been announced by the General Chairs, Mariacarla Staffa (University of Naples Parthenope, Italy) and John-John Cabibihan (Qatar University, Qatar). The Honorary Chair is Bruno Siciliano (University of Naples Federico II, Italy). „The University of Naples Parthenope will host the social robotics conference and showcase the technological advancements of this innovative city. Since 1919, the University of Naples Parthenope has been dedicated to fostering young talent, offering internationally oriented education and cutting-edge research. With 15,000 students, 320 faculty, and 250 staff, it combines a strong maritime tradition with excellence in economics, law, engineering, technology, and sports sciences. Innovation and real-world impact are at the core of its mission.“ (Announcement General Chairs) On the third day, the participants will meet at the Città della Scienza conference center. The conference website of ICSR 2025 is online since January: icsr2025.eu.
Fig.: The Parthenope University of Naples (Photo: Parthenope)
The paper „Robots at arm’s length: Unveiling the dynamics of interpersonal distance preferences in human-robot interactions“ by Katharina Kühne, Laura M. Zimmer, Melina Jeglinski-Mende, Oliver Bendel, Yuefang Zhou, and Martin H. Fischer was published in February 2025 in the proceedings volume „Social Robots with AI: Prospects, Risks, and Responsible Methods“ … From the abstract: „In social interactions, interpersonal distance is a vital factor influencing relationships, providing protection, and regulating arousal. Despite the intuitive nature of adopting specific distances, little is known about comfortable interpersonal distances with social robots. In our online study with 66 participants using a Go/No-Go task, we investigated perceptions of individuals standing face-to-face with a robot at different distances. In line with the negativity bias hypothesis, participants exhibited a preference for greater distances , as reflected in longer reaction times. Furthermore, the human-likeness of the robots moderated the link between distance and arousal. Finally, the most human-like robot was less liked and evoked higher arousal. These findings have implications for designing social robots and optimizing interactions, particularly in educational or medical contexts.“ 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.
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.
Fig.: The conference gala dinner took place in this building
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.
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.
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!
The International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI) took place at the University of Glasgow from December 2 to 5, 2024. Clara Mancini and Fiona French are among the pillars of the ACI. Clara Mancini, PhD, is professor of animal-computer interaction (ACI) and founding director of the Open University ACI Laboratory. Her work explores the interaction between animals and technology, and the nexus between technology, animal well-being and justice, and human-animal relationships. Her research spans the theory, methodology, practice, and ethics of designing animal-centered interactive systems for and with animals to contribute to a more just and inclusive multispecies society. She is a co-founder of the ACI and has been promoting animal-centered research and design across disciplines for over a decade, organizing numerous scientific events and serving on various scientific committees. Dr. Fiona French is an associate professor in the School of Computing and Digital Media of the London Metropolitan University. She is course leader for the BSc Games Programming and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). Her research interests are in the area of animal-computer interaction. Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel attended the ACI International Conference 2022 and 2024. He has been conducting research in the field of animal-computer interaction and animal-machine interaction since 2012. Dr. Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas (University of Glasgow) was the host of ACI 2024.
Fig.: Clara Mancini, Fiona French, and Oliver Bendel at the reception of the ACI 2024 (Photo: Jonathan Traynor)
„The Animal Whisperer Project“ by Oliver Bendel (FHNW School of Business) and Nick Zbinden (FHNW School of Business) won the Honourable Mention Short Paper Award at the 2024 ACI Conference. From the abstract: „Generative AI has become widespread since 2022. Technical advancements have resulted in multimodal large language models and other AI models that generate, analyze, and evaluate texts, images, and sounds. Such capabilities can be helpful in encounters between humans and animals. For example, apps with generative AI on a smartphone can be used to assess the body language and behavior of animals – e.g., during a walk or hike – and provide a recommendation for human behavior. It is often useful to take into account the animal’s environment and situation. The apps can help people to avert approaches and attacks, and thus also protect animals. In ‚The Animal Whisperer Project‘, three apps were developed as prototypes based on the multimodal large language model GPT-4 from OpenAI from the beginning to mid-2024. Three specific GPTs resulted: the Cow Whisperer, the Horse Whisperer, and the Dog Whisperer. All three showed impressive capabilities after the first prompt engineering. These were improved by implementing information from expert interviews and adding labeled images of animals and other materials. AI-based apps for interpreting body language, behavior, and the overall situation can apparently be created today, without much effort, in a low-budget project. However, turning them into products would certainly raise questions, such as liability in the event of accidents.“ The proceedings are available here.
Fig.: Nick Zbinden and Oliver Bendel with the Honourable Mention Short Paper Award
The International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI) started on December 2, 2024 at the University of Glasgow. The lectures will take place on the last two days. The ACI “is the leading venue in the rapidly expanding field of ACI”. “Initially held as a one-day affiliated event, since 2016 it has become a three- or four-day independent event and has been attracting a growing number of participants and contributors from diverse backgrounds.” (Website ACI) ACI’s roots lie in the theoretical, methodological and ethical foundations and values that have informed interaction design for decades. “Growing out of this fertile ground, ACI’s theoretical and methodological scope has since been expanding to include all forms of animals’ interaction with computing systems and all aspects of animal-centred computing, resulting in an increasing variety of applications.” (Website ACI) After the welcome address by Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas (University of Glasgow) on the morning of 4 December 2024, Amanda Seed (School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews) gave her opening keynote entitled „What kind of mind do primates have?“.
Fig.: Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas welcomes the participants
The „Proceedings of the International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction 2024“ were published at the end of November 2024, a few days before the conference in Glasgow. The following papers received awards: „Wireless Tension Sensors for Characterizing Dog Frailty in Veterinary Settings“ by Colt Nichols (North Carolina State University), Yifan Wu (North Carolina State University), Alper Bozkurt, David Roberts (North Carolina State University) and Margaret Gruen (North Carolina State University): Best Paper Award; „Communication Functions in Speech Board Use by a Goffin’s Cockatoo: Implications for Research and Design“ by Jennifer Cunha (Indiana University), Corinne Renguette (Perdue University), Lily Stella (Indiana University) and Clara Mancini (The Open University): Honourable Mention Award; „Surveying The Extent of Demographic Reporting of Animal Participants in ACI Research“ by Lena Ashooh (Harvard University), Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas (University of Glasgow) and Rebecca Kleinberger (Northeastern University): Honourable Mention Award; „Shelling Out the Fun: Quantifying Otter Interactions with Instrumented Enrichment Objects“ by Charles Ramey (Georgia Institute of Technology), Jason Jones (Georgia Aquarium), Kristen Hannigan (Georgia Aquarium), Elizabeth Sadtler (Georgia Aquarium), Jennifer Odell (Georgia Aquarium), Thad Starner (Georgia Institute of Technology) and Melody Jackson (Georgia Institute of Technology): Best Short Paper Award; „The Animal Whisperer Project“ by Oliver Bendel (FHNW School of Business) and Nick Zbinden (FHNW School of Business): Honourable Mention Short Paper Award.
The 17th International Conference on Social Robotics will again bring together researchers and practitioners working on human-robot interaction and the integration of social robots into society. ICSR 2025 will be held in Naples, Italy in September. Mariacarla Staffa from the Università degli Studi di Napoli ‚Parthenope‘ made this announcement at the ICSR 2024 in Odense. The institution is one of the state universities in the metropolitan region. Parthenope has been the city goddess of Naples since ancient times and is a poetic term for the city. With the help of a promotional video, the researcher drew attention to the numerous sights in the city and the surrounding area. World-famous are archaeological sites such as Pompeii and sights such as the Amalfi Coast. The active volcano Vesuvius is located in the Gulf of Naples, nine kilometres from the city. Italy is one of the most important countries in the world for social robotics. The ICSR had already taken place there in 2022, in Florence to be precise. Naples will certainly also be an outstanding host.
The ICSR 2024 logo and marketing material featured a robot that was gray, red, or blue depending on the context, medium, or background. All participants of the conference, which took place in Denmark, received a Lego set. Those who were crafty enough ended up with the robot in front of them, in its blue or red version. Odense, the location of the conference, is known for its robotics and technology industry. It made sense to hold the event there. Shortly before – from October 21 to 23 – you could visit ROSCon 2024 there. The ROS-Industrial Conference 2024 took place from October 24 to 25 in Odense, at the same time as the ICSR. The ICSR is, along with Robophilosophy, the most important conference on social robotics. In 2024, the general chairs were Oskar Palinko and Leon Bodenhagen, University of Southern Denmark. John-John Cabibihan, Qatar University, was general co-chair. The standing committee was chaired by Shuzhi Sam Ge, National University of Singapore.
Fig.: The robot in front of a painting by Takashi Murakami
Die ICSR wurde 2024 in Odense wie schon 2023 in Doha und 2022 in Florenz von einer ausgedehnten und sehenswerten Messe begleitet. Vor Ort waren Roboter wie Navel (Navel Robotics), Furhat (Furhat Robotics), HospiBot (SDU Robotics, Universität zu Lübeck, Fachhochschule Kiel und weitere Partner) sowie TIAGo und TIAGo Pro (beide PAL Robotics). Navel ist einem kleinen Jungen nachempfunden. Seine Augen bestehen aus zwei Komponenten, einem Display und einem darüberliegenden Glas, das die Augen auf dem Display plastisch erscheinen lässt. Die Arme sind einfach gestaltet und können nach oben und unten bewegt werden. Dadurch können Freude und Bedauern ausgedrückt und Begrüßungen begleitet werden. Navel wird in Krankenhäusern und Pflegeheimen eingesetzt. Er erhielt 2024 den Digital Health Award (DGP) von Novartis. Die Medien berichten rege über ihn, etwa das ZDF in Terra Xplore – Jasmina Neudecker war 2023 im Gespräch mit dem Gründer der Firma, Claude Toussaint.
Abb.: Oliver Bendel bei der ICSR 2024 mit Navel (Foto: Tamara Siegmann)
The Uncanny Valley effect is a famous hypothesis. Whether it can be influenced by context is still unclear. In an online experiment, Katharina Kühne and her co-authors Oliver Bendel, Yuefang Zue, and Martin Fischer found a negative linear relationship between a robot’s human likeness and its likeability and trustworthiness, and a positive linear relationship between a robot’s human likeness and its uncaniness. „Social context priming improved overall likability and trust of robots but did not modulate the Uncanny Valley effect.“ (Abstract) Katharina Kühne outlined these conclusions in her presentation „Social, but Still Uncanny“ – the title of the paper – on 25 October 2024 at the International Conference on Social Robotics 2024 in Odense, Denmark. Like Yuefang Zue and Martin Fischer, she is a researcher at the University of Potsdam. Oliver Bendel teaches and researches at the FHNW School of Business. Together with Tamara Siegmann, he presented a second paper at the ICSR.
Friday morning of the ICSR 2024 (23 – 25 October 2024) was filled with an exciting and inspiring program. This included the Special Session Arts. The Robot Design Competition was organized as a parallel session. Fourteen projects of varying maturity were presented. There were three categories: „1. Innovative Idea: The entries, which are innovative but are in the early stages of conceptualization will be considered for this category; 2. Innovative Solution: The entries, which have demonstrated maturity of the proposed solution through prototypes will be considered for this category; 3. Innovative Product: The entries, which have targeted specific applications through a more matured robotics solutions as a potential product will be considered for this category.“ (Website ICSR) The judges included Amit Kumar Pandey (Rovial Space), Kimmo Vänni (Häme University of Applied Sciences HAMK), Mariacarla Staffa (University of Naples Parthenope), and Oliver Bendel (FHNW School of Business). The winner in the Innovative Solution category was „Modular Robotic Furniture“. The researchers presented adaptive furniture that is a side table one moment, a dining table for several people the next, and a container for dirty dishes or worn laundry the next.
Several honors and award ceremonies took place on the sidelines of the ICSR 2024 gala dinner. Members of the committees were called to the stage of the Anarkist – Beer and Food Lab. In 2024, the general chairs were Oskar Palinko and Leon Bodenhagen, both from the University of Southern Denmark. John-John Cabibihan, Qatar University, was general co-chair. The standing committee was chaired by Shuzhi Sam Ge, National University of Singapore. The program chairs included Kerstin Fischer, University of Southern Denmark, and the special session chairs included Ross Mead, Semio, USA. Competition chair was Amit Kumar Pandey, Rovial Space, France. The publicity chairs included Oliver Bendel, School of Business, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. The ICSR is, along with Robophilosophy, the most important conference on social robotics.
Fig.: Committee members on the stage (Photo: Tamara Siegmann)
On October 24, 2024, Tamara Siegmann and Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel (School of Business FHNW) presented their project „Robots in Prison“ at the ICSR in Odense (Denmark). They investigated whether collaborative and social robots can and should be used in prisons. One result was that modern industrial robots such as cobots and classic service robots such as transportation and cleaning robots hardly create any added value. Instead, they take work away from inmates. In contrast, social robots are conceivable and useful. They bring something to imprisonment that is common in freedom. And – an important point for resocialization – they can combat the loneliness of inmates. The International Conference on Social Robotics is the most important conference for social robotics alongside Robophilosophy. The paper „Social and Collaborative Robots in Prison“ will be published in a proceedings volume by Springer at the end of the year.
Fig.: Tamara Siegmann and Oliver Bendel at the ICSR 2024 (Photo: Katharina Kühne)
The paper “The Animal Whisperer Project” by Oliver Bendel and Nick Zbinden will be presented at ACI 2024, which takes place in Glasgow this December. It is a conference that brings together the small community of experts in animal-computer interaction and animal-machine interaction. This includes Oliver Bendel, who has been researching in this field since 2012, with a background in animal ethics from the 1980s and 1990s. He initiated the Animal Whisperer project. The developer was Nick Zbinden, who graduated from the FHNW School of Business. From March 2024, three apps were created on the basis of GPT-4: the Cow Whisperer, the Horse Whisperer, and the Dog Whisperer. They can be used to analyze the body language, behaviour, and environment of cows, horses, and dogs. The aim is to avert danger to humans and animals. For example, a hiker can receive a recommendation on his or her smartphone not to cross a pasture if a mother cow and her calves are present. All he or she has to do is call up the application and take photos of the surroundings. The three apps are available as prototypes since August 2024. With the help of prompt engineering and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), they have been given extensive knowledge and skills. Above all, self-created and labeled photos were used. In the majority of cases, the apps correctly describe the animals‘ body language and behavior. Their recommendations for human behavior are also adequate.
Abb.: The Cow Whisperer in action (Image: DALL-E 3)
Tamara Siegmann and Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel carried out the „Robots in Prison“ project in June and July 2024. The student, who is studying business administration at the FHNW School of Business, came up with the idea after taking an elective module on social robots with Oliver Bendel. In his paper „Love Dolls and Sex Robots in Unproven and Unexplored Fields of Application“, the philosopher of technology had already made a connection between robots and prisons, but had not systematically investigated this. They did this together with the help of expert interviews with the intercantonal commissioner for digitalization, several prison directors and employees as well as inmates. The result was the paper „Social and Collaborative Robots in Prison“, which was submitted to the ICSR 2024. The International Conference on Social Robotics is the most important conference for social robotics alongside Robophilosophy. The paper was accepted in September 2024 after a revision of the methods section, which was made more transparent and extensive and linked to a directory on GitHub. This year’s conference will take place in Odense (Denmark) from October 23 to 26. Last year it was held in Doha (Qatar) and the year before last in Florence (Italy).
Bei der KI & Robotics4Retail-Konferenz 2024 in Bonn hält Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel am 25. September 2024 die Keynote zum Thema „Serviceroboter aus technischer, ökonomischer und ethischer Perspektive“. Aus der Vorankündigung: „Serviceroboter haben sich als Reinigungs-, Transport- und Sicherheitsroboter verbreitet. Als Saug- und Wischroboter sind sie im Haushalt, am Flughafen und auf der Hotelanlage anzutreffen. Als Transportroboter fahren sie in der Fabrik und in Lagerhallen umher, verkehren im Restaurant zwischen Buffet und Küche oder bringen in Städten die Bestellungen zum Kunden. In der Form sozialer Roboter beraten und bedienen sie uns in Shopping Malls oder unterhalten unsere Kinder, während wir einkaufen. Vor der Tür stehen universelle Roboter, menschenähnliche Maschinen, die morgens in Produktion und Logistik helfen, nachmittags den Garten umgraben und abends mit uns Tennis spielen. Verbunden werden sie mit multimodalen Sprachmodellen, die ihre Steuerung und Wahrnehmung ermöglichen bzw. verbessern. Der Vortrag stellt Anwendungsfälle der genannten Art vor, ordnet sie aus technischer, wirtschaftlicher und ethischer Perspektive ein und wirft einen Blick in die Zukunft.“ Weitere Informationen über www.robotics-konferenz.de.
Abb.: Auch bei der IDEepolis – rechts Bendel, links Zöllner – ging es um Serviceroboter (Foto: Aaron Kubach)
On 27 August 2024, AAAI announced the continuation of the AAAI Spring Symposium Series, to be held March 31 – April 2, 2025, at San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront in Burlingame, CA. The Call for Proposals for the Spring Symposium Series is available on the Spring Symposium Series website. According to the organizers, proposals are due October 4, 2024, and early submissions are encouraged. „The Spring Symposium Series is an annual set of meetings run in parallel at a common site. It is designed to bring colleagues together in an intimate forum while at the same time providing a significant gathering point for the AI community.“ (Website AAAI) The traditional conference will therefore not be held at Stanford University in 2025 – as it was in 2023. It returned there in 2024 to the delight of all participants. The Covid-19 pandemic had hit the conference hard before. The AAAI can only be advised to return to Stanford in 2026. Only there will the conference live up to its promise.
