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The robots are coming and they’re getting smarter, evolving from single-task devices (think Roomba) into machines that can make their own decisions and autonomously navigate public spaces. From transportation systems, hospitals and the military, to the robotization of our workplaces and households, robots will be everywhere and will increasingly interact with people.
Whether you find it exhilarating or terrifying (or both), progress in robotics and related fields like AI raises new ethical quandaries and challenges legal codes created for a world in which a sharp line separates man from machine.
Drawing from her recent work exploring humans’ emotional responses to robots, Dr. Kate Darling answers questions like:
- What happens when robots move from behind factory walls into shared spaces and begin interacting with humans?
- What opportunities and challenges should we anticipate in the future of human-robot interaction?
- Where does the true potential of AI and robotics lie, and will robots supplement human ability, or replace it?
- Why do people treat robots like living things, and why does that matter?
- What can and can’t robots and AI do?
- What societal challenges will we face in a future with robots (ethical, legal, social)?
Dr. Darling examines why people fear some robots and empathize with others, while also prompting – and answering – questions about what society’s relationship with these robots could look like in the future. What follows is in part an examination of the technology itself, but ultimately, offers a window into how it’s poised to change the way we relate to each other and our own humanity – and why it matters.
Speaker
Dr. Kate Darling
Leading Expert in Social Robotics and MIT Media Lab Research Scientist
A leading expert in robot ethics, Dr. Kate Darling is a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab, where she investigates social robotics and conducts experimental studies on human-robot interaction. Forever interested in how technology intersects with society, Kate has a background in law & economics and intellectual property, she explores the emotional connection between people and life-like machines, seeking to influence technology design and policy direction. Her writing and research anticipate difficult questions that lawmakers, engineers, and the wider public will need to address as human-robot relationships evolve in the coming decades. Dr. Darling’s work has been featured in international media, and she has authored multiple academic publications and contributed to industry publications from Vogue to Die Zeit to the BBC, and in 2017, the American Bar Association honored her legal work with the Mark T. Banner Award in Intellectual Property.