Robohub.org
c-Politics-Law-Society
The dark side of ethical robots
Alan Winfield
09 Aug 2016
When I was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4's Today programme in 2014, Justin Webb's final question was, "If you can make an ethical robot, doesn't that mean you could make an unethical robot?" The ans...
Lessons from Brexit and learning to better communicate robotics research and innovation
Michael Szollosy
27 Jul 2016
As part of the UK’s National Robotics Week, The University of Sheffield hosted the 17th Towards Autonomous Systems (TAROS) conference from 28-30 June. Among the papers and discussions on the develo...
How science can help us make AI more trustworthy
Simone Stumpf
22 Jul 2016
Stories about racist Twitter accounts and crashing self-driving cars can make us think that artificial intelligence (AI) is a work in progress. But while these headline-grabbing mistakes reveal the fr...
Why football, not chess, is the true final frontier for robotic artificial intelligence
Daniel Polani
20 Jul 2016
The perception of what artificial intelligence was capable of began to change when chess grand master and world champion Garry Kasparov lost to Deep Blue, IBM’s chess-playing program, in 1997. Deep ...
Law-abiding robots? What should the legal status of robots be?
Anders Sandberg
18 Jul 2016
News media are reporting that the EU is considering turning robots into electronic persons with rights and apparently industry spokespeople are concerned that Brussels’ overzealousness could hinder ...
A European perspective on robot law: Interview with Mady Delvaux-Stehres
Yueh-Hsuan Weng
15 Jul 2016
10 years after the release of the EURON Roboethics Roadmap and we are witnessing a technology revolution. In the last 10 years, we've seen: Google’s self-driving car, Amazon’s KIVA system, drone...
The obsession with creating ‘perfect female robots’: Should women be worried?
Julie Wosk
14 Jul 2016
Julie Wosk is the author of a provocative book that gives the history of female robots in movies, television, art, literature, and includes a chapter on robotics. My Fair Ladies: Female Robots, Andr...
Relax, we’re not living in a computer simulation
Alan Winfield
13 Jul 2016
Ever since Elon Musk's recent admission that he's a simulationist, several people have asked me what I think of the proposition that we are living inside a simulation. My view is very firmly that the...
Unity between human and social machines: What if we humans were anthrobots?
Robohub Editors
08 Jul 2016
Writer and philosopher Luis de Miranda studies cultural history of digital devices and automata, with his latest essay (in French) L’Art d’être libres au temps des automates (The Art of Being...
Caring for robots: How assistive robotics may change our homes
Benjamin Lipp
15 Jun 2016
Who will care for us in the future? According to many politicians, scientists and market analysts, it could be machines. Machines that will change our diapers, and spend time with us once we are old....
Beyond Asimov: how to plan for ethical robots
Benjamin Kuipers
02 Jun 2016
As robots become integrated into society more widely, we need to be sure they’ll behave well among us. In 1942, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov attempted to lay out a philosophical and moral fra...
Robohub roundtable: Why is it so difficult to define ‘robot’?
Kassie Perlongo
29 Apr 2016
Put on your thinking caps. Every few weeks, Robohub will conduct a roundtable discussion. In this edition, we discuss the challenges and limitations in defining the word ‘robot’. We strongly encou...
Should robots be gendered?
Alan Winfield
20 Apr 2016
Should robots be gendered? I have serious doubts about the morality of designing and building robots to resemble men or women, boys or girls. Let me explain why....
Why robots need to be able to say ‘No’
Matthias Scheutz
13 Apr 2016
Should you always do what other people tell you to do? Clearly not. Everyone knows that. So should future robots always obey our commands? At first glance, you might think they should, simply because ...
Can I trust my robot? And should my robot trust me?
Riccardo Bevilacqua
07 Apr 2016
If we are serious about long-term human presence in space, such as manned bases on the moon or Mars, we must figure out how to streamline human-robot interactions....
Robots grow up: Building the emotional machine
Angelica Lim and Footnote
29 Mar 2016
From the sci-fi classic “Bladerunner” to the recent films “Her” and “Ex Machina,” pop culture is filled with stories demonstrating our simultaneous fascination with and fear of artificial ...
Survey shows public attitude towards robotics generally positive, but evokes mixed feelings
Michael Szollosy
17 Mar 2016
The British Science Association released a survey about British public’s attitudes toward robotics and AI. Their headlines state:
60% of people think that the use of robots or programmes equipp...
What the past of robotics law says about its future
One day, robots will present difficult legal challenges. This seems to be the consensus among commentators. And who am I to disagree? I have myself argued, right here on the digital pages of Slate, t...
American law needs a reboot when it comes to robots
Hallie Siegel
09 Mar 2016
Nearly 60 years of American case law indicate that while robot technology has been developing by leaps and bounds, the courts’ concept of robots is confused and largely stuck in the past. If we ar...
Could we make a moral machine?
Alan Winfield
02 Mar 2016
Could we make a moral machine? A robot capable of choosing or moderating its actions on the basis of ethical rules?
This was how I opened my IdeasLab talk at the World Economic Forum 2016. Th...
White House economic report looks to robotics for the future
Andra Keay and Silicon Valley Robotics
23 Feb 2016
For the first time, robotics was featured in the annual Economic Report of the President. The hefty 435 page report from the President and the Council of Economic Advisors was released to Congress on ...
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Automation and Employment, with Michael Osborne
Andrew Vaziri
20 Feb 2016
In this episode Andrew Vaziri speaks with Mike Osborne, Associate Professor in Machine Learning at the University of Oxford. They discuss how advancements in artificial intelligence may change the w...
540 little robots and 29 drones celebrate Chinese New Year
Frank Tobe
10 Feb 2016
In a TV spectacle celebrating the Chinese New Year and seen by more than 640 million viewers, 540 Chinese-made robots danced to a song sung by a Chinese superstar and 29 neon-colored drones flew in u...
Turning the lens on robotics reporting: An interview with New York Times technology reporter John Markoff
Hallie Siegel
28 Jan 2016
If you are working in the field of robotics or AI, you may be used to fielding calls from journalists wanting to better understand the technology. But not all journalists are created equal. Pulitzer-P...
UK Royal Society wants to hear your thoughts on machine learning
Aleks Berditchevskaia
23 Dec 2015
The UK Royal Society would like to hear your thoughts on machine learning – you are invited to answer some or all of the questions set out in a Call for Evidence here. The closing date for evidence ...
BCG study finds that reshoring with robots works
Frank Tobe
10 Dec 2015
Two important findings from Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) recent survey of US manufacturing executives: (1) Of those who plan to add capacity, most plan to do so in the US, and (2) a rising perc...
Father of robotics Joseph F. Engelberger dies at age 90
Silicon Valley Robotics
01 Dec 2015
Robotics Industry Association | Joseph F. Engelberger, an engineer and entrepreneur who pioneered the robotics field, died peacefully at his home this morning, December 1, 2015, in Newtown, Connecticu...
On the ethics of research in robotics, with Raja Chatila
In this video lecture, IEEE Fellow Raja Chatila shares his views on [tweetquote]why roboticists are duty-bound to educate the wider public on the state of advanced robotics[/tweetquote], and also t...
‘Rise of the Robots’ receives Business Book of the Year award
Frank Tobe
23 Nov 2015
One of our choices for your summer reading -- Martin Ford's 'Rise of the Robots' -- won the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year award at a ceremony held last week in New York. ...
Open Roboethics initiative delivers statement to United Nations CCW
Open Roboethics Initiative
17 Nov 2015
On Friday November 13th, AJung Moon from the Open Roboethics initiative delivered a statement at the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) Meeting of States Parties....
How ethical is your ethical robot?
Alan Winfield
13 Nov 2015
If you're in the business of making ethical robots, then sooner or later you have to face the question: how ethical is your ethical robot? If you've read my previous blog posts then you will probably...
Global majority want autonomous weapons banned: New report
Open Roboethics Initiative
11 Nov 2015
The majority of people are against the use of autonomous weapons capable of identifying and destroying targets without human input, according to a new survey by researchers at the University of Britis...
Fully autonomous weapons: Toby Walsh at TEDx Berlin
Robohub Editors
15 Oct 2015
AI researcher Toby Walsh gives a talk at TEDx Berlin on Killer Robots. Walsh will be participating in a side event and media briefing for the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots at the annual meeting of th...
25 women in robotics you need to know about – 2015
Ada Lovelace was the world’s first computer programmer, and heralded symbolic logic by demonstrating future applications for the universal computing machine that Charles Babbage proposed. She was e...
Why we need journalism about machine learning
Talking Machines
25 Sep 2015
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Talking Machines is in the process of raising funds to defray the cost of producing our first season and to help us start production on our second season. On the show we’ve talked about h...
Let’s hope that #IStandWithAhmed will help improve diversity in robotics
Hallie Siegel
22 Sep 2015
If you've been following the twittersphere you've heard the story of Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old boy who was arrested after the digital clock he built to impress his highschool teachers was mistak...
