From March 27-29, 2023, the AAAI 2023 Spring Symposia featured the symposium „Socially Responsible AI for Well-being“ by Takashi Kido (Teikyo University, Japan) and Keiki Takadama (The University of Electro-Communications, Japan). This time the venue was exceptionally not Stanford University, but the Hyatt Regency SFO Airport. On March 28, Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel and Lea Peier presented their paper „How Can Bar Robots Enhance the Well-being of Guests?“. The paper has now been published as a preprint and can be downloaded via arxiv.org/abs/2304.14410. From the abstract: „This paper addresses the question of how bar robots can contribute to the well-being of guests. It first develops the basics of service robots and social robots. It gives a brief overview of which gastronomy robots are on the market. It then presents examples of bar robots and describes two models used in Switzerland. A research project at the School of Business FHNW collected empirical data on them, which is used for this article. The authors then discuss how the robots could be improved to increase the well-being of customers and guests and better address their individual wishes and requirements. Artificial intelligence can play an important role in this. Finally, ethical and social problems in the use of bar robots are discussed and possible solutions are suggested to counter these.“ More information on the conference via aaai.org/conference/spring-symposia/sss23/.
„Oliver Bendel antwortet im März auf eine Interviewanfrage aus San Francisco. Der Informationsethiker ist auf dem Weg an ein Symposium, wo er über Umarmungsroboter und Barroboter referieren wird. Vor einigen Jahren hat er an derselben Veranstaltung der renommierten Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) annotierte Entscheidungsbäume für moralische Maschinen vorgestellt. Wenn sich Bendel nicht gerade auf einer seiner vielen wissenschaftlichen Reisen befindet, forscht er in beschaulicher Umgebung: Seit 2009 bekleidet der 55-Jährige eine Professur für Informationsethik, Maschinenethik und Soziale Robotik an der Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW) in Brugg-Windisch.“ (Inside IT, 24. April 2023) Mit diesen Worten beginnt ein Artikel von Thomas Schwandener, der am 24. April 2023 in Inside IT erschienen ist. Weiter heißt es: „In seiner Arbeit geht es um das Zusammenleben von sozialen Robotern und Menschen, um die Potenziale künstlicher Intelligenz, aber auch um ethische Folgefragen. Bendel ist eine Autorität auf seinem Gebiet. Er hat mehrere Standardwerke verfasst, spricht an internationalen Fachtagungen und trat mehrfach vor dem Deutschen Bundestag als Sachverständiger auf.“ (Inside IT, 24. April 2023) Es folgt ein längeres Interview, das am Rande der Shift geführt wurde. Darin weist der Informations- und Maschinenethiker auf die tiefe Kluft zwischen Menschen und Maschinen hin. Der ganze Artikel kann hier aufgerufen werden.
Abb.: Oliver Bendel bei der Shift (Foto: Shift/Louis Rafael)
Am 20. April 2023 fand die Shift statt, eine Tagung zu Fragen von Informationsethik, Roboterethik und KI-Ethik. Initiatorin und Organisatorin ist Cornelia Diethelm. Moderatorin war wieder Patrizia Laeri. Die Keynote hielt Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel aus Zürich. Er ging zunächst auf soziale Roboter ein und auf die Disziplinen Künstliche Intelligenz, Maschinenethik und Maschinelles Bewusstsein. Dann beschrieb er mehrere soziale Roboter, die auch als Serviceroboter im engeren Sinne eingesetzt werden. Auf dieser empirischen Basis stellte er ethische Überlegungen an. Am Ende behandelte er Sprachmodelle wie GPT-3 bzw. GPT-4 und PaLM-E. Er zeigte, wie soziale Roboter und Serviceroboter von diesen profitieren können, in ihrer Sprachfähigkeit und bei ihrer Wahrnehmung der Welt. Auch Ansätze der Maschinenethik waren ein Thema, von der Einpflanzung moralischer Regeln bis hin zur Nutzung von Moralmenüs. Ein Panel zur Regulierung von KI durch die EU fand am Nachmittag statt. Dabei stach die Schweizer Informatikerin und Unternehmerin Bea Knecht hervor, die nicht nur enorme fachliche Expertise hatte, sondern auch herausragende Reflexionsfähigkeiten – und eine genaue und anschauliche Sprache. Weitere Informationen zur Shift über digitalresponsibility.ch/digitaleethikkonferenz/ …
Abb.: Oliver Bendel im Gespräch mit Patrizia Laeri (Foto: Shift/Louis Rafael)
Next to Robophilosophy, ICSR may be the most important conference on social robotics. The fourteenth edition took place in Florence at the end of 2022 and was dedicated to the health sector. „The 15th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2023) will bring together researchers and practitioners working on the interaction between humans and intelligent robots and on the integration of social robots into our society. ICSR 2023 will take place in Doha as a face-to-face conference on December 4-7, 2023. This will be the first time that the conference will be hosted in Qatar and in the Middle East and North Africa region.“ (Website ICSR) The theme of this year’s ICSR is „Human-Robot Collaboration: Sea, Air, Land, Space and Cyberspace“. According to the organizers, the theme emphasizes on all physical and cyber-physical domains where humans and robots collaborate. More information and CfP via icsr23.qa.
The Tenth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction will be held December 4-8, 2023, in Raleigh, North Carolina, hosted by North Carolina State University. „ACI is the leading International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction. It is a highly multidisciplinary event drawing researchers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds to share and discuss work and topics related to the research and design of computing-enabled and interactive technology for and with animals.“ (Website ACI) The Ninth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction was held in Newcastle upon Tyne at the end of 2022. Also this year the organizers are interested in a variety of topics in animal-computer interaction and animal-machine interaction, as the call for papers (CfP) reveals: „Submissions might address topics such as: the role of technology in shaping human-animal relationships; studies and/or analysis of large-scale technology for animal deployments; considerations on the wider context of technology for animal use; methods and reflections on studying the next generation of technology for animals; or how to conduct ACI research in a world where commercial design and deployment of technology for animals outpaces academic thought.“ (Website ACI) The CfP can be accessed at www.aciconf.org/aci2023.
Fig.: The William B. Umstead State Park in North Carolina
„Die Shift ist eine exklusive Plattform zur Digitalen Ethik. Was begeistert uns bei neuartigen Angeboten, die dank Big Data, Künstlicher Intelligenz & Co. möglich sind? Was akzeptieren Kundinnen und Kunden sowie die Gesellschaft, was nicht? Und wo sind Grenzen nötig? Diese Fragen stehen im Zentrum der Shift. Es geht um aktuelle Kundenerwartungen sowie Akzeptanz und Vertrauen im digitalen Raum.“ (Website Shift) So steht es auf der Website der Tagung, die 2023 bereits in die fünfte Runde geht. Die Keynote hält Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel aus Zürich. Er geht zunächst auf soziale Roboter ein und auf die Disziplinen Künstliche Intelligenz, Maschinenethik und Maschinelles Bewusstsein. Dann beschreibt er mehrere soziale Roboter, die auch als Serviceroboter im engeren Sinne eingesetzt werden. Auf dieser empirischen Basis stellt er ethische Überlegungen an. Am Ende behandelt er Sprachmodelle wie GPT-3 bzw. GPT-4 und PaLM-E. Er zeigt, wie soziale Roboter und Serviceroboter von diesen profitieren können, in ihrer Sprachfähigkeit und bei ihrer Wahrnehmung der Welt. Auch Ansätze der Maschinenethik sind ein Thema, von der Einpflanzung moralischer Regeln bis hin zur Nutzung von Moralmenüs. Weitere Informationen zur Shift über digitalresponsibility.ch/digitaleethikkonferenz/ …
„Mit den seit 1998 stattfindenden Hannah-Arendt-Tagen erinnert Hannover an die 1906 in Linden geborene, bedeutende Tochter der Landeshauptstadt.“ (Website Stadt Hannover) Die jüdische Vertreterin der Politischen Theorie, die aus Nazideutschland floh, forschte u.a. zum Totalitarismus. „Ein Kuratorium mit Mitgliedern aus Wissenschaft, Politik, Kunst, Stiftungen und Verwaltung wählt jährlich ein aktuelles Thema aus und stellt es einem breiten Publikum zur Diskussion.“ (Website Stadt Hannover) Dies wird ermöglicht mit Hilfe von Experten und Expertinnen, die von Dr. Sabine Meschkat-Peters – vom Büro des Oberbürgermeisters, der Vorsitzender des Kuratoriums ist – nach Hannover eingeladen werden und dort einen Vortrag halten. Sie müssen zudem ein Manuskript abgeben, das in den jeweiligen Sammelband aufgenommen wird. Allerdings nicht unbedingt im originalen Wortlaut, denn die Herausgeberin Prof. Dr. Franziska Martinsen greift in die Texte ein, auch gegen den ausdrücklichen Willen der Autoren. Sie ist eine Verfechterin gegenderter Sprache und fügt Gendersternchen ein, die in der deutschen Sprache nicht vorgesehen sind. Damit verursacht sie Rechtschreib- und Grammatikfehler in fremden Texten und macht diese missverständlich und unlesbar. Zudem verletzt sie Urheberrecht, Persönlichkeitsrecht und Wissenschaftsfreiheit der Autoren. Diese erhalten von der Stadt Hannover auf Anfrage keine Hilfe in dieser Sache und werden lediglich an die Herausgeberin und die Presseabteilung der Stadt verwiesen. Auch der Verlag Velbrück nimmt seine Verantwortung nicht wahr und diskreditiert sich selbst als Wissenschaftsverlag. Dass dies alles ausgerechnet im Namen einer Totalitarismusforscherin geschieht, die sich nicht mehr wehren kann, gibt zu denken.
The AAAI Spring Symposia is a legendary conference that has been held since 1992. It usually takes place at Stanford University. Until 2018, the leading US artificial intelligence organization itself published the proceedings. Since 2019, each symposium is responsible for its own. Following a restructuring of the AAAI website, the proceedings can be found in a section of the new „AAAI Conference and Symposium Proceedings“ page. In 2016, Stanford University hosted one of the most important gatherings on machine ethics and robot ethics ever, the symposium „Ethical and Moral Considerations in Non-Human Agents“ … Contributors included Peter M. Asaro, Oliver Bendel, Joanna J. Bryson, Lily Frank, The Anh Han, and Luis Moniz Pereira. Also present was Ronald C. Arkin, one of the most important and – because of his military research – controversial machine ethicists. The 2017 and 2018 symposia were also groundbreaking for machine ethics and attracted experts from around the world. The papers can be accessed at aaai.org/aaai-publications/aaai-conference-proceedings.
The ACI took place from 5 to 8 December 2022 in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the world’s leading conference on animal-computer interaction. The proceedings were published in the ACM Library on March 30, 2023. They include the paper „A Face Recognition System for Bears: Protection for Animals and Humans in the Alps“ by Oliver Bendel and Ali Yürekkirmaz. From the abstract: „Face recognition, in the sense of identifying people, is controversial from a legal, social, and ethical perspective. In particular, opposition has been expressed to its use in public spaces for mass surveillance purposes. Face recognition in animals, by contrast, seems to be uncontroversial from a social and ethical point of view and could even have potential for animal welfare and protection. This paper explores how face recognition for bears (understood here as brown bears) in the Alps could be implemented within a system that would help animals as well as humans. It sets out the advantages and disadvantages of wildlife cameras, ground robots, and camera drones that would be linked to artificial intelligence. Based on this, the authors make a proposal for deployment. They favour a three-stage plan that first deploys fixed cameras and then incorporates camera drones and ground robots. These are all connected to a control centre that assesses images and developments and intervenes as needed. The paper then discusses social and ethical, technical and scientific, and economic and structural perspectives. In conclusion, it considers what could happen in the future in this context.“ The proceedings can be accessed via dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3565995.
Der 28. März 2023 war der zweite Tag des Symposiums „Socially Responsible AI for Well-being“ im Rahmen der AAAI 2023 Spring Symposia. Veranstaltungsort ist normalerweise die Stanford University. Aus personellen Gründen wurde die Konferenz in diesem Jahr ins Hyatt Regency in San Francisco verlegt. Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel von der Hochschule für Wirtschaft FHNW stellte am Morgen das Paper „Increasing Well-being through Robotic Hugs“ vor, das von ihm, Andrea Puljic, Robin Heiz, Furkan Tömen und Ivan De Paola verfasst wurde. Das Team hatte einen Umarmungsroboter namens HUGGIE gebaut und an über 130 Probanden getestet. Wärme und Weichheit – dies betonen auch Kuchenbecker und Block – sind wesentlich für die Akzeptanz. Stimme, Geruch und Herzschlag werden sehr unterschiedlich bewertet. Eine weibliche Stimme könnte die Akzeptanz bei einer Umarmung durch den Roboter verbessern. Danach hielten Lea Peier und er ihren Vortrag „How Can Bar Robots Enhance the Well-being of Guests?“. Sie gingen auf zwei Barroboter ein, die in der Schweiz im Betrieb sind bzw. waren. Informationen zur Konferenz sind über aaai.org/conference/spring-symposia/sss23/ erhältlich.
Abb.: Oliver Bendel bei seinem Vortrag zu Umarmungsrobotern (Foto: Lea Peier)
Der 28. März 2023 war der zweite Tag des Symposiums „Socially Responsible AI for Well-being“ im Rahmen der AAAI 2023 Spring Symposia. Veranstaltungsort ist normalerweise die Stanford University. Aus personellen Gründen wurde die Konferenz in diesem Jahr ins Hyatt Regency in San Francisco verlegt. Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel von der Hochschule für Wirtschaft FHNW stellte am Morgen das Paper „Increasing Well-being through Robotic Hugs“ vor, das von ihm, Andrea Puljic, Robin Heiz, Furkan Tömen und Ivan De Paola verfasst wurde. Das Team hatte einen Umarmungsroboter namens HUGGIE gebaut und an über 130 Probanden getestet. Danach hielten Lea Peier und er ihren Vortrag „How Can Bar Robots Enhance the Well-being of Guests?“. Sie gingen auf zwei Barroboter ein, die in der Schweiz im Betrieb sind bzw. waren. Lea Peier hatte im Rahmen ihrer Abschlussarbeit an der Hochschule für Wirtschaft FHNW die wohl erste empirische Untersuchung zu Barrobotern durchgeführt. Beide Vorträge weckten das Interesse der Zuhörer, die vor allem aus Japan und den USA stammten. Informationen zur Konferenz sind über aaai.org/conference/spring-symposia/sss23/ erhältlich.
Am 27. März 2023 begann das Symposium „Socially Responsible AI for Well-being“ im Rahmen der AAAI 2023 Spring Symposium Series. Die traditionsreiche Konferenz wurde ausnahmsweise von der Stanford University ins Hyatt Regency SFO Airport verlegt. In seinem Eröffnungsvortrag erklärte Takashi Kido, einer der beiden Organisatoren, was Responsible AI ist, und erwähnte die Begriffe „Accountability“, „Responsibility“ und „Transparency“. Der Fokus des Symposiums ist Well-being und Fairness. Takashi Kido erwähnte den Vortrag „Should Social Robots in Retail Manipulate Customers?“ von Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel beim Symposium „How Fair is Fair? Achieving Wellbeing AI“ von 2022, der auf dem gleichnamigen Paper von Oliver Bendel und Liliana Alves beruhte. Er leitete dann über zum Begriff “Socially Responsible AI“, wobei er folgende Diskussion benutzte: „Socially Responsible AI is about human responsibility for the development of intelligent systems along fundamental human principles and values, to ensure human flourishing and well-being in a sustainable world, considering for humans and AI ideal relationships“. Am Ende durften auch Überlegungen zu ChatGPT nicht fehlen. Es schloss sich eine intensive Diskussion über den Chatbot an, der zugleich ein Contentgenerator ist. Das Faszinierende ist, dass dieses Thema Laien und Experten gleichermaßen aufwühlt. Informationen zur Konferenz sind über aaai.org/conference/spring-symposia/sss23/ erhältlich.
From March 27-29, 2023, the AAAI 2023 Spring Symposia will feature the symposium „Socially Responsible AI for Well-being“ by Takashi Kido (Teikyo University, Japan) and Keiki Takadama (The University of Electro-Communications, Japan). The venue is usually Stanford University. For staffing reasons, this year the conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco. On March 28, Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel will present the paper „Increasing Well-being through Robotic Hugs“, written by himself, Andrea Puljic, Robin Heiz, Furkan Tömen, and Ivan De Paola. From the abstract: „This paper addresses the question of how to increase the acceptability of a robot hug and whether such a hug contributes to well-being. It combines the lead author’s own research with pioneering research by Alexis E. Block and Katherine J. Kuchenbecker. First, the basics of this area are laid out with particular attention to the work of the two scientists. The authors then present HUGGIE Project I, which largely consisted of an online survey with nearly 300 participants, followed by HUGGIE Project II, which involved building a hugging robot and testing it on 136 people. At the end, the results are linked to current research by Block and Kuchenbecker, who have equipped their hugging robot with artificial intelligence to better respond to the needs of subjects.“ More information via aaai.org/conference/spring-symposia/sss23/.
Fig.: HUGGIE, Teddy, and the team (without Oliver Bendel)
From March 27-29, 2023, the AAAI 2023 Spring Symposia will feature the symposium „Socially Responsible AI for Well-being“ by Takashi Kido (Teikyo University, Japan) and Keiki Takadama (The University of Electro-Communications, Japan). The venue is usually Stanford University. For staffing reasons, this year the conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco. On March 28, Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel and Lea Peier will present their paper „How Can Bar Robots Enhance the Well-being of Guests?“. From the abstract: „This paper addresses the question of how bar robots can contribute to the well-being of guests. It first develops the basics of service robots and social robots. It gives a brief overview of which gastronomy robots are on the market. It then presents examples of bar robots and describes two models used in Switzerland. A research project at the School of Business FHNW collected empirical data on them, which is used for this article. The authors then discuss how the robots could be improved to increase the well-being of customers and guests and better address their individual wishes and requirements. Artificial intelligence can play an important role in this. Finally, ethical and social problems in the use of bar robots are discussed and possible solutions are suggested to counter these.“ More information via aaai.org/conference/spring-symposia/sss23/.
As part of the AAAI 2023 Spring Symposia in San Francisco, the symposium „Socially Responsible AI for Well-being“ is organized by Takashi Kido (Teikyo University, Japan) and Keiki Takadama (The University of Electro-Communications, Japan). The paper „Increasing Well-being and Health through Robotic Hugs“ by Oliver Bendel, Andrea Puljic, Robin Heiz, Furkan Tömen, and Ivan De Paola was accepted. The talk will take place between March 26 and 29, 2023 at Hyatt Regency, San Francisco Airport. The symposium website states: „For our happiness, AI is not enough to be productive in exponential growth or economic/financial supremacies but should be socially responsible from the viewpoint of fairness, transparency, accountability, reliability, safety, privacy, and security. For example, AI diagnosis system should provide responsible results (e.g., a high-accuracy of diagnostics result with an understandable explanation) but the results should be socially accepted (e.g., data for AI (machine learning) should not be biased (i.e., the amount of data for learning should be equal among races and/or locations). Like this example, a decision of AI affects our well-being, which suggests the importance of discussing ‚What is socially responsible?‘ in several potential situations of well-being in the coming AI age.“ (Website AAAI) According to the organizers, the first perspective is „(Individually) Responsible AI“, which aims to clarify what kinds of mechanisms or issues should be taken into consideration to design Responsible AI for well-being. The second perspective is „Socially Responsible AI“, which aims to clarify what kinds of mechanisms or issues should be taken into consideration to implement social aspects in Responsible AI for well-being. More information via www.aaai.org/Symposia/Spring/sss23.php#ss09.
As part of the AAAI 2023 Spring Symposia in San Francisco, the symposium „Socially Responsible AI for Well-being“ is organized by Takashi Kido (Teikyo University, Japan) and Keiki Takadama (The University of Electro-Communications, Japan). The paper „How Can Bar Robots Enhance the Well-being of Guests?“ by Oliver Bendel and Lea K. Peier was accepted. The talk will take place between March 26 and 29, 2023 at Hyatt Regency, San Francisco Airport. The symposium website states: „For our happiness, AI is not enough to be productive in exponential growth or economic/financial supremacies but should be socially responsible from the viewpoint of fairness, transparency, accountability, reliability, safety, privacy, and security. For example, AI diagnosis system should provide responsible results (e.g., a high-accuracy of diagnostics result with an understandable explanation) but the results should be socially accepted (e.g., data for AI (machine learning) should not be biased (i.e., the amount of data for learning should be equal among races and/or locations). Like this example, a decision of AI affects our well-being, which suggests the importance of discussing ‚What is socially responsible?‘ in several potential situations of well-being in the coming AI age.“ (Website AAAI) According to the organizers, the first perspective is „(Individually) Responsible AI“, which aims to clarify what kinds of mechanisms or issues should be taken into consideration to design Responsible AI for well-being. The second perspective is „Socially Responsible AI“, which aims to clarify what kinds of mechanisms or issues should be taken into consideration to implement social aspects in Responsible AI for well-being. More information via www.aaai.org/Symposia/Spring/sss23.php#ss09.
Die Tagung LaborDigital am 10. Februar 2023 an der Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK), iniitiert und organisiert u.a. von Charlotte Axelsson, wird mit einem Vortrag von Prof. Dr. Johan Frederik Hartle eröffnet, dem Rektor der Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien. Es folgt die Keynote „Labor-Geschichte/n. Zur Archäologie eines ‚kreativen‘ Raumes“ von Prof. Dr. Oliver Ruf von der Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg. Von 11.00 bis 12.30 Uhr finden parallel drei Experimental Learning Labs statt, nämlich „Artefakte der Maschinenethik“ mit Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel (FHNW, Muttenz, Olten und Brugg-Windisch), „Dance Lab & Avatar“ mit Regina Bäck (München) und „Experimental Game Cultures Labs“ mit Prof. Dr. Margarete Jahrmann (Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien). Nach dem Mittagessen folgen die ZHdK Lab Visits und ab 15.30 Uhr weitere Experimental Learning Labs. Um 16.30 Uhr hält Raphaële Bidault-Waddington, Gründerin des LIID Future Lab in Paris, die zweite Keynote mit dem Titel „Designing Art-based Future Labs“. Johan Frederik Hartle beschließt mit weiteren Ausführungen die Tagung. Weitere Informationen über paul.zhdk.ch/course/view.php?id=2312.
Abb.: Oliver Bendel erklärt auf ARTE das Uncanny Valley
As part of the AAAI 2023 Spring Symposia in San Francisco, the symposium „Socially Responsible AI for Well-being“ is organized by Takashi Kido (Teikyo University, Japan) and Keiki Takadama (The University of Electro-Communications, Japan). The AAAI website states: „For our happiness, AI is not enough to be productive in exponential growth or economic/financial supremacies but should be socially responsible from the viewpoint of fairness, transparency, accountability, reliability, safety, privacy, and security. For example, AI diagnosis system should provide responsible results (e.g., a high-accuracy of diagnostics result with an understandable explanation) but the results should be socially accepted (e.g., data for AI (machine learning) should not be biased (i.e., the amount of data for learning should be equal among races and/or locations). Like this example, a decision of AI affects our well-being, which suggests the importance of discussing ‚What is socially responsible?‘ in several potential situations of well-being in the coming AI age.“ (Website AAAI) According to the organizers, the first perspective is „(Individually) Responsible AI“, which aims to clarify what kinds of mechanisms or issues should be taken into consideration to design Responsible AI for well-being. The second perspective is „Socially Responsible AI“, which aims to clarify what kinds of mechanisms or issues should be taken into consideration to implement social aspects in Responsible AI for well-being. More information via www.aaai.org/Symposia/Spring/sss23.php#ss09.
In January 2023, the Proceedings of Robophilosophy 2022 were published. Included is the paper „Robots in Policing“ by Oliver Bendel. From the abstract: „This article is devoted to the question of how robots are used in policing and what opportunities and risks arise in social terms. It begins by briefly explaining the characteristics of modern police work. It puts service robots and social robots in relation to each other and outlines relevant disciplines. The article also lists types of robots that are and could be relevant in the present context. It then gives examples from different countries of the use of robots in police work and security services. From these, it derives the central tasks of robots in this area and their most important technical features. A discussion from social, ethical, and technical perspectives seeks to provide clarity on how robots are changing the police as a social institution and with social actions and relationships, and what challenges need to be addressed.“ (Abstract) Robots in policing is a topic that has not received much attention. However, it is likely to become considerably more topical in the next few years. More information about the conference on cas.au.dk/en/robophilosophy/conferences/rpc2022.
Fig.: The conference poster at the University of Helsinki
In January 2023, the proceedings of Robophilosophy 2022 were published, under the title „Social Robots in Social Institutions“. „This book presents the Proceedings of Robophilosophy 2022, the 5th event in the biennial Robophilosophy conference series, held in Helsinki, Finland, from 16 to 19 August 2022. The theme of this edition of the conference was Social Robots in Social Institutions, and it featured international multidisciplinary research from the humanities, social sciences, Human-Robot Interaction, and social robotics. The 63 papers, 41 workshop papers and 5 posters included in this book are divided into 4 sections: plenaries, sessions, workshops and posters, with the 41 papers in the ‚Sessions‘ section grouped into 13 subdivisions including elderly care, healthcare, law, education and art, as well as ethics and religion. These papers explore the anticipated conceptual and practical changes which will come about in the course of introducing social robotics into public and private institutions, such as public services, legal systems, social and healthcare services, or educational institutions.“ (Website IOS Press) The proceedings contain the paper „Robots in Policing“ by Oliver Bendel and the poster „Tamagotchi on our couch: Are social robots perceived as pets?“ by Katharina Kühne, Melinda A. Jeglinski-Mende, and Oliver Bendel. More information via www.iospress.com/catalog/books/social-robots-in-social-institutions.
The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) is pleased to present the AAAI 2023 Spring Symposia, to be held at the Hyatt Regency, San Francisco Airport, California, March 27-29. According to the organizers, Stanford University cannot act as host this time because of insufficient staff. Symposia of particular interest from a philosophical point of view are „AI Climate Tipping-Point Discovery“, „AI Trustworthiness Assessment“, „Computational Approaches to Scientific Discovery“, „Evaluation and Design of Generalist Systems (EDGeS): Challenges and methods for assessing the new generation of AI“, and „Socially Responsible AI for Well-being“. According to AAAI, symposia generally range from 40–75 participants each. „Participation will be open to active participants as well as other interested individuals on a first-come, first-served basis.“ (Website AAAI) Over the past decade, the conference has become one of the most important venues in the world for discussions on robot ethics, machine ethics, and AI ethics. It will be held again at History Corner from 2024. Further information via www.aaai.org/Symposia/Spring/sss23.php.
On December 13th, 2022, the hybrid workshop „Realization of Avatar-Symbiotic Society“ was held at the ICSR. It was organized by Dr. Takahiro Miyashita (ATR) and Prof. Dr. Takashi Yoshimi (Shibaura-IT). The description of the workshop was as follows: „This workshop aims at presenting the ongoing progress of the challenges on the Moonshot (MS) human-centered long-term R&D program. It will discuss by focusing on the goal 1 of the MS dealing with the future realization of an avatar-symbiotic society and cybernetic avatars (CAs). In the workshop, semi-autonomous tele-operated robots and CG agents are called CAs. The participants will discuss with speakers who are researchers related to CAs‘ technology about the avatar-symbiotic society which enables to freely and actively participate in society for every person.“ (Website ICSR) The first lecture entitled „Avatar and the future society“ was given by Prof. Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro (Osaka University). He introduced Erica, Telenoid, and Hugvie, among others. Hugvie is a technically expandable doll that can be hugged. He also introduced his „Avatar Infrastructure“: „Anyone, including the elderly and people with disabilities, will be able to freely participate in various activities with abilities beyond ordinary people while expanding their physical, cognitive, and perceptual abilities using a large number of CAs.“ Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel mentioned to Hiroshi Ishiguro that two of his former students, Nhi Tran Hoang Yen and Thang Hoang Vu from Ho Chi Minh City, interpreted his Hugvie as a female figure and designed a male figur (Gendering Hugvie) as part of a project on social robots. The roboticist from Osaka replied that his Hugvie doll had no gender, but noted the reception with interest. Other presentations with exciting discussions followed. More information on the conference via www.icsr2022.it.
