Kasper Stoy, PhD, Professor
Robotics, Evolution, and Art Lab (REAL)
Computer Science Department
IT University of Copenhagen
Denmark
Email: ksty@itu.dk
Web: https://real.itu.dk/
Cathrine Hasse, PhD, Project coordinator, Professor, Hon. professor
Program for Future Technology, Culture and Learning
Department of Education/ Institut for Uddannelse og Pædagogik (DPU)
University of Aarhus
Denmark
E-mail: caha@edu.au.dk
Web: http://edu.au.dk/en/research/research-areas/future-technology-culture-and-learning/
Co-organizers
Pat Treusch, Dr. phil./PhD (cotutelle), Postdoc
Interdisciplinary Berlin Cooperative Graduate Program „DiGiTal“
Center for Interdisciplinary Women’s and Gender Studies; and Department of General & Historical Educational Science
Technische Universität Berlin
Germany
Email: p.treusch@tu-berlin.de
Web: https://blogs.tu-berlin.de/zifg_stricken-mit-robotern/(Do Robots Dream of Knitting)
Kathleen Richardson, PhD, Professor
Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI
Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility
De Montfort University
United Kingdom
Email: kathleen.richardson@dmu.ac.uk
Web: www.dream2020.eu/(Development of Robot-Enhanced therapy for children with AutisM spectrum disorders)
Morten Roed Frederiksen, PhD Student
Robotics, Evolution, and Art Lab (REAL)
Computer Science Department
IT University of Copenhagen
Denmark
Email: mrof@itu.dk
Ben Vermeulen, Post-doc
Universität Hohenheim
Lehrstuhl für Innovationsökonomik (520i)
Universität Hohenheim
Germany
Email:
Dr. Karolina Zawieska, Postdoctoral Researcher
Ethics and Cultural Learning of Robotics
Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility
De Montfort University
United Kingdom
Email:karolina.zawieska@dmu.ac.uk
Additional information for evaluation
The organizers of this workshop come from different disciplinary backgrounds (robotics, computer science, anthropology, sociology, industrial engineering, design), but all of us have worked in projects centered on robot design, development, and/or use.
We acknowledge the atypical approach taken in this workshop as a strength. The very interactive format should appeal to participants, and the content presented will be provocative and engaging. Human-centered and ethical robotics is increasingly important to policymakers, to regulators, in the media, and to consumers – and should be taken up by roboticists accordingly. As robots begin to move out of industrial areas and into people’s everyday lives, robot developers increasingly acknowledge a need to adjust their design practices. As noted in our ongoing projects, however, roboticists often struggle to identify and engage with the ethical challenges in their development processes.
Left unaddressed, human-centered design becomes an important issue, not only with regard to ethics, but also to acceptance and uptake. Some robot designs may affect a potential user’s ability or desire to engage with robots. Design involves constant decision-making, but even mundane or ‘innocent choices’ like using certain materials (soft or hard), sounds, colors, and software have to be chosen with an awareness of their in- and exclusive aspects. Particular decisions touch upon the ethics, values, gender and stereotypes (EVGS) that are built into the development of robots –issues typically dealt with by social scientists. Thus, we see a need for collaboration with social scientists who study everyday life issues and how robots are met in these settings.
The aim of this workshop is to explore with the participants how design involves gendered, stereotyped aspects in explicit and implicit ways and to provoke reflection for more conscious and activist design choices, in order to downplaynormativity and promote more ethical and human-centered robot designs.