Social Robot Futures

Companion Species Manifesto 2.0: Jibo the Family Robot

Sep 19, 2014Jan 31, 2023

By Karen Asp

As the video that accompanied the July 2014 launch of the Jibo crowdsourcing campaign shows, Jibo is a personal robot designed to convincingly interact in conversations, as well as perform organizational, cognitive and educational tasks such as conducting internet searches on command and telling children’s stories. From the various interviews that Jibo’s inventor Cynthea Breazeal gave during the launch, one can surmise that the project aims to dispel a myth. (Original video is no longer available; an alternative upload can be viewed here.)

Discussion

Humans Need Not Apply: Will Better Tech Make More,…

Sep 17, 2014Jan 31, 2023

— Documentary video, with summary by Karen Asp

CPG Grey recently uploaded “Humans Need Not Apply,” a compelling documentary video on the breadth, depth and implications of contemporary workplace automation through developments in AI and robotics. The narrator makes the point that if the history of automation primarily concerned the transformation of physical labour through the invention of “mechanical muscle,” the revolution underway now is characterized by the transformation of intellectual and social labour through AI and robotic mechanization.

News

Jibo, Robot Servants, and Quality of Life

Sep 5, 2014Sep 16, 2021

Following the media sensation around Jibo, the “world’s first family robot,” in an article posted on WIRED magazine (Sept 5, 2014) philosopher Evan Selinger reflects on the impacts that robot servants may have on our lives. While there may be advantages to living with domestic robots, notably having to do less manual work ourselves and having more leisure time, the irony, according to Selinger, is that we may also experience a decline in quality of life.

News

Sci-Fi, Religion, Profits at Singularity U.

May 17, 2014Sep 16, 2021

–Journalist Eric Benson’s week-long experience

As Teresa Heffernan noted here last week, at the Silicon Valley-based Singularity University, “faith in technology and profit are unwavering, while the world’s problems are understood as great ‘market’ opportunities.” In March 2013, journalist Eric Benson took a weeklong $12,000 course in the Executive Program at the university. Not only was he instructed in the “nearly limitless potential of artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, and bioinformatics,” he learned that science fiction, religion and the drive to get rich motivate the university’s teachers and students. Benson’s insightful analysis of his experience, “Sci-Fi, Religion, And Silicon Valley’s Quest For Higher Learning At Singularity University” is posted at BuzzFeed.

Feature image source: Eric Benson/Buzzfeed.

Discussion

More on Why Science Needs Fiction

May 7, 2014Jan 31, 2023

By Teresa Heffernan

The Singularity University, founded by Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil and located in Silicon Valley, brands itself as about “Science. Technology. The Future of Humanity.” This for-profit uncredited institution offers opportunities such as: 7-day workshops for executives and entrepreneurs (US $12,000); a 10-week Graduate Studies Program (US $29,500); and events like the 2-day conference at NYU that focuses on how new technologies are impacting finance (VIP tickets are US $10,000; general admission is US$ 5,000; and a special rate that students can apply for is US $2,500).

Discussion

Why Science Needs Fiction

Feb 28, 2014Jan 31, 2023

–Introducing the Social Robot Futures website

By Teresa Heffernan

Scientists working in artificial intelligence and robotics often comment on the inspiration they draw from fiction. Yet what role do literature and film play when it comes to questions about the future of the industry, social policy, and ethics? Social Robot Futures is a place that takes seriously the feedback loop between science and the humanities, and that restores fiction to the industry of robotics and AI. It opens up a space to imagine this technology as untethered by questions of profit or military funding.