Podcast – Page 2 – Human Robot Interaction

Aldebaran Again

Is this the end of Pepper?

Softbank Robotics sold their Nao and Pepper robots to the United Robotics Group (URG) which reversed the name of this business back to its orginal “Aldebaran”. In this episode Dwain Allan and I discuss the uncertain future of Nao and Pepper based on direct correspondence with URG. We try to answer the question whether you should still invest in this robotic platform. Is Aldebaran another zombie robotic company?

Transcript

The transcript of the episode is available as a PDF.

HRI-Podcast-Episode-024-Aldebaran-Again-Transcript

ISSN 2703-4054

Important Links

Zombies

Can robots be conscious?

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Are robots zombies? This might seem like a strange question at first, but it leads to one of the most important questions in science today: what is consciousness and can robot’s become conscious? These questions fascinate many people. And when Blake Lemoine suggested that Google’s latest AI Lambda had become sentient, it triggered a worldwide media frenzy. In this HRI podcast episode, I talk with Professor Jack Copeland about machine consciousness.

Transcript

The transcript of the episode is available as a PDF. You can also follow the episode with subtitles through Descript.

HRI-Podcast-Episode-023-Zombies-Transcript

ISSN 2703-4054

Important Links

Is LaMDA Sentient? — an Interview
Artificial Intelligence: A Philosophical Introduction by Jack Copeland

Autonomous Vehicles – Do We Really Know The Risks?

We need objective safety data

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Autonomous Vehicles (AV) are the riskiest form of human-robot interaction. One the one hand they offer unparalleled improvements to the safety and comfort of drivers, passengers and other traffic participants. They also promise to reduce emission. On the other hand, they demand new considerations for trust and responsibilities in human-robot interaction. The field of tension between autonomy, trust and liability can only be manoeuvred on the basis of objective data. Government agencies will have to implement clear obligations and standards for reporting the performances of AVs. This is the only way for consumers to make informed decisions about their purchases and the associated risks. In this podcast episode we will critically review the available data, the market situation and the recent developments.

Transcript

The transcript of the episode is available as a PDF. You can also follow the episode with subtitles through Descript. A full paper with references is available.

HRI-Podcast-Episode-022-Autonomous-Vehicles-Do-We-Really-Know-The-Risks

ISSN 2703-4054

Important Links

Emotions And Consciousness In Robots

The full interview with Douglas Campbell

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In the last HRI podcast episode we talked about the role of emotions for humans and robots. The interview with Douglas Campbell truly inspired me and there was not enough time in the last episode to go into the full depth of our conversation. So here it is, our full discussion about emotions and consciousness in robots.

Transcript

The transcript of the episode is available as a PDF. You can also follow the episode with subtitles through Descript.

HRI-Podcast-Episode-021-Emotions-And-Consciousness-In-Robots-Transcript

ISSN 2703-4054

Important Links

Problems of Philosophy – The Limits of Inquiry by C.McGinn
Other Minds by Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Artificial consciousness by Wikipedia

The Sad Robot

Do robots need emotions?

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What roles do emotions, affect and moods play for humans and robots? We will discuss how robots can sense, reason and express emotions. Furthermore, we talk about if emotions make robots more human. I had the pleasure to talk with Rosalind Picard (MIT), Lola Canamero (CY Cergy Paris University), Hiroshi Ishiguro (Osaka University) and Douglas Campbell (University of Canterbury) about these exciting questions.

Transcript

The transcript of the episode is available as a PDF. You can also follow the episode with subtitles through Descript.

HRI-Podcast-Episode-020-The-Sad-Robot-Transcript

ISSN 2703-4054

Important Links

Facial Action Coding System – Paul Ekman Group
Affective Computing by Rosalind Picard
Geminoid Robots

The Story Of Boston Dynamics

From military robots to beer commercials.

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Boston Dynamics is the rock star of robotics. It recently featured in a beer commercial during the Super Bowl. How did a company that started as a military contractor become a novelty in beer commercials? Dwain Allan and Christoph Bartneck discuss the past, present and future of the company with Robert Cheek and Stephen Hickson.

Transcript

The transcript of the episode is available as a PDF. You can also follow the episode with subtitles through Descript.

HRI-Podcast-Episode-019-The-Story-Of-Boston-Dynamics-Transcript

ISSN 2703-4054

Important Links

CNBC documentary about Boston Dynamics
The petman and atlas robots at Boston dynamics by Gabe Nelson, Aaron Saunders, and Robert Playter
XPeng’s rideable robotic unicorn
Kawasaki’s rideable robotic goat
Tesla’s presentation of the Optimus humanoid robot

The Science Beyond the Horizon

How do predatory conferences work?

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Predatory conferences have become a global problem that plagues the scientific community. The Science Horizon Conferences claims to organize ten conference in 2022 in Europe, including the International Conference and Expo on Robotics & Artificial Intelligence. In this podcast episode I investigate this conference and its organizers Shaik Riyaz and Devasai Udarapu. My nonsensical abstract submission passed their peer review process and was accepted for a keynote presentation. I confronted Devasai with this complete lack of academic rigor in an interview. Anton Angelo and David Kaye share their view on this conference, predatory conferences in general and what impact they have on the scientific endeavour.

UPDTAE: It seems that attending a flaky conference is rather depressing.

Transcript

The transcript of the episode is available as a PDF. You can also follow the episode with subtitles through Descript.

HRI-Podcast-Episode-018-The-Science-Beyond-The-Horizon-Transript

ISSN 2703-4054

Important Links

International Conference and Expo on Robotics & Artificial Intelligence
The role of social robots in a post Covid-19 society – Manuscript and acceptance letter
Science Horizon Conferences Company Network
Flaky Academic Conferences

The Laws Of Robotics

We discuss the three laws of robotics by Isaac Asimov.

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In our previous podcast episode The Good Robot we discussed the difficulty of enabling robots to act ethically. When talking to journalists or policy makers about machine ethics you frequently get the response, well, Issac Asimov already solved that problem with his three laws of robotics. These laws are so seductively simple that most will intuitively understand them. In this episode of the Human-Robot Interaction podcast, Sean Welsh and I will have a close look at these laws and try to understand why barely anybody has ever tried to use them in their robot.

Transcript

The transcript of the episode is available as a PDF. You can also follow the episode with subtitles through Descript.

HRI-Podcast-Episode-017-The-Laws-Of-Robotics-Transcript

ISSN 2703-4054

Important Links:

AI Armageddon and the Three Laws of Robotics by Lee McCauley
Why the three laws of robotics do not work by Chris Stokes
The Unacceptability of Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics as a Basis for Machine Ethics by Susan Leigh Anderson

There is method to the madness

I talked about HRI methods with Tony Belpaeme.

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The success of Human Robot Interaction depends on utilizing our understanding of the interaction between humans and robots in the development of new technology. These new technologies then need to be rigorously tested to proof their benefit. In other words, it is time for an HRI study. In this episode we will discuss some of the major decision you need to make when designing a study with Tony Belpaeme who recently published a book chapter entitled “Advice to new human-robot interaction researchers”. Choose wisely, for while the true study will bring you knowledge, the false study will take it from you.

Transcript

The transcript of the episode is available as a PDF. You can also follow the episode with subtitles through Descript.

HRI-Podcast-Episode-016-There-Is-Method-To-The-Madness-Transcript

ISSN 2703-4054

Important Links:

Why do all social robots fail in the market?

The resurrection of dead robots.

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While working on our first Human-Robot Interaction textbook, we noticed that almost all the robots mentioned in the book had failed in the market. Our book had become an obituary. I talked with Lundy Lewis, Frederic Kaplan, Amro Najjar, Robert Cheek and Tomas Concha (NTT Disruption) about why almost all social robots failed in the market. The Aibo and Jibo robots are examples of robots that were brought to the market, failed and were resurrected from the dead. One in fame and one in shame.

Transcript

The transcript of the episode is available as a PDF. You can also follow the episode with subtitles through Descript.

HRI-Podcast-Episode-015-Why-Do-All-Social-Robots-Fail-In-The-Market-Transcript