Tag: Social Robots

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Robots in Law and Policing

Robophilosophy 2022 at the University of Helsinki is the fifth event in the biennial Robophilosophy Conference Series. It “will explore the societal significance of social robots for the future of social institutions with its usual broad scope, embracing both theoretical and practical angles” (CfP Robophilosophy). It “is an invitation to philosophers and other SSH researchers, as well as researchers in social robotics and HRI, to investigate from interdisciplinarily informed perspectives whether and how social robotics as an interdisciplinary endeavour can contribute to the ability of our institutions to perform their functions in society” (CfP Robophilosophy). Social institutions include retirement and nursing homes, strip clubs and brothels, monasteries and seminaries, and police departments. Oliver Bendel (School of Business FHNW) will have the opportunity to present his paper entitled “Robots in Policing” in session 1, “Robots in Law and Policing”. Cindy Friedman (“Granting Negative Rights to Humanoid Robots”) and Jakob Stenseke (“The Use and Abuse of Normative Ethics for Moral Machines”) will speak after him. In addition, a poster by Katharina Kühne and Melinda Mende (University of Potsdam) as well als Oliver Bendel entitled “Tamagotchi on our couch: Are social robots perceived as pets?” was accepted. The full program is now available online.

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About Manipulative Robots in Retail

On June 30, 2022, the paper “Should Social Robots in Retail Manipulate Customers?” by Oliver Bendel and Liliana Margarida Dos Santos Alves was published on arxiv.org. It was presented at the AAAI 2022 Spring Symposium “How Fair is Fair? Achieving Wellbeing AI” at Stanford University and came in third place in the Best Presentation Awards. From the abstract: “Against the backdrop of structural changes in the retail trade, social robots have found their way into retail stores and shopping malls in order to attract, welcome, and greet customers; to inform them, advise them, and persuade them to make a purchase. Salespeople often have a broad knowledge of their product and rely on offering competent and honest advice, whether it be on shoes, clothing, or kitchen appliances. However, some frequently use sales tricks to secure purchases. The question arises of how consulting and sales robots should “behave”. Should they behave like human advisors and salespeople, i.e., occasionally manipulate customers? Or should they be more honest and reliable than us? This article tries to answer these questions. After explaining the basics, it evaluates a study in this context and gives recommendations for companies that want to use consulting and sales robots. Ultimately, fair, honest, and trustworthy robots in retail are a win-win situation for all concerned.” The paper will additionally be published in the proceedings volume of the symposium by the end of summer. It can be downloaded via arxiv.org/abs/2206.14571.

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Will We Love Robots?

“It is estimated that there are now more than 1.7 million robots with social attributes worldwide. They care for, educate, help, and entertain us. There have also long been highly engineered sex robots. But can these machines actually develop feelings – or even feel love?” (Website ARTE, own translation) ARTE asks this question in the series “42 – Die Antwort auf fast alles” (“42 – The Answer to Almost Everything”). The program “Werden wir Roboter lieben?” (“Will we love robots?”) will be broadcast on February 19, 2022. The online version is already available from January 20. Dr. Hooman Samani, a robotics expert at the University of Plymouth, Prof. Dr. Martin Fischer, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Potsdam, and Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel, an information and machine ethicist at the Hochschule für Wirtschaft FHNW, will have their say. Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel has been researching conversational agents and social robots for more than 20 years and has published the Springer book “Soziale Roboter” (“Social Robots”) at the end of 2021. More information on the program via www.arte.tv/de/videos/101938-004-A/42-die-antwort-auf-fast-alles/.

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When Robots Flatter the Customer

Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel, Liliana Margarida Dos Santos Alves wrote her master thesis “Manipulation by humanoid consulting and sales hardware robots from an ethical perspective” at the School of Business FHNW. The background was that social robots and service robots like Pepper and Paul have been doing their job in retail for years. In principle, they can use the same sales techniques – including those of a manipulative nature – as salespeople. The young scientist submitted her comprehensive study in June 2021. According to the abstract, the main research question (RQ) is “to determine whether it is ethical to intentionally program humanoid consulting and sales hardware robots with manipulation techniques to influence the customer’s purchase decision in retail stores” (Alves 2021). To answer this central question, five sub-questions (SQ) were defined and answered based on an extensive literature review and a survey conducted with potential customers of all ages: “SQ1: How can humanoid consulting and selling robots manipulate customers in the retail store? SQ2: Have ethical guidelines and policies, to which developers and users must adhere, been established already to prevent the manipulation of customers’ purchasing decisions by humanoid robots in the retail sector? SQ3: Have ethical guidelines and policies already been established regarding who must perform the final inspection of the humanoid robot before it is put into operation? SQ4: How do potential retail customers react, think and feel when being confronted with a manipulative humanoid consultant and sales robot in a retail store? SQ5: Do potential customers accept a manipulative and humanoid consultant and sales robot in the retail store?” (Alves 2021) To be able to answer the main research question (RQ), the sub-questions SQ1 – SQ5 were worked through step by step. In the end, the author comes to the conclusion “that it is neither ethical for software developers to program robots with manipulative content nor is it ethical for companies to actively use these kinds of robots in retail stores to systematically and extensively manipulate customers’ negatively in order to obtain an advantage”. “Business is about reciprocity, and it is not acceptable to systematically deceive, exploit and manipulate customers to attain any kind of benefit.” (Alves 2021) The book “Soziale Roboter” – which will be published in September or October 2021 – contains an article on social robots in retail by Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel. In it, he also mentions the very interesting study.

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The New Life of Hugvie

How can you make social robots out of simple, soft shapes and objects, i.e. robots for interacting with people and animals? Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel, Vietnamese students Nhi Hoang Yen Tran and Thang Vu Hoang are investigating this question in the project “Simple, Soft Social Robots” at the School of Business FHNW. They are using Hugvie from the Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories as a basis – these labs are particularly famous for the Geminoid and for Erica. But hugging robots like Telenoid also come from them. The latest product from this series is Hugvie. A pocket for a smartphone is attached to its head. People who are far away from each other can talk to each other and have the feeling of hugging and feeling each other. But what else can you do with Hugvie and similar forms? Can you make them conversationalists themselves, can you teach them to move their limbs and be active in other ways? And what does such robotization of simple, soft forms and objects mean for everyday life and society?

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A Fish-inspired Robotic Swarm

A team from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering has developed fish-inspired robots that can synchronize their movements like a real school of fish, without any external control. According to a SEAS press release, it is the first time scientists have demonstrated complex 3D collective behaviors with implicit coordination in underwater robots. “Robots are often deployed in areas that are inaccessible or dangerous to humans, areas where human intervention might not even be possible”, said Florian Berlinger, a PhD Candidate at SEAS and Wyss in an interview. “In these situations, it really benefits you to have a highly autonomous robot swarm that is self-sufficient.” (SEAS, 13 January 2021) The fish-inspired robotic swarm, dubbed Blueswarm, was created in the lab of Prof. Radhika Nagpal, an expert in self-organizing systems. There are several studies and prototypes in the field of robotic fishs, from CLEANINGFISH (School of Business FHNW) to an invention by Cornell University in New York.

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A Mobile Charging Robot

Futurism.com reports that Volkswagen has unveiled a working prototype of a robot that can autonomously charge electric cars. “The Mobile Charging Robot is an adorable squat bot – which, when you get right down to it, is strikingly reminiscent of the R2-D2 droid from ‘Star Wars,’ bleeps and bloops included.” (Futurism.com, 28 December 2020) As a result, the service robot becomes a social robot. This may be a benefit for the video, but whether it is necessary in practice remains to be seen. The basic idea is that the robots move to cars that are parked in large residential complexes – and where there is not necessarily a human in the vicinity (and where therefore no social interaction is needed). But the concept is questionable in other respects as well. A mobile energy storage of this type seems to be inefficient: “basically, you’d have to charge the robot’s battery supply which it then uses to charge electric cars” (Futurism.com, 28 December 2020). Nevertheless, the idea should be pursued. Without a doubt, there are logistical advantages to having a robot drive to and charge cars – fewer charging stations are needed, and you can service two vehicles at once.

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Proceedings on Social Robotics

The book “Culturally Sustainable Social Robotics” (eds. Marco Nørskov, Johanna Seibt, and Oliver Santiago Quick) was published in December 2020 by IOS Press. From the publisher’s information: “Robophilosophy conferences have been the world’s largest venues for humanities research in and on social robotics. The book at hand presents the proceedings of Robophilosophy Conference 2020: Culturally Sustainable Social Robotics, the fourth event in the international, biennial Robophilosophy Conference Series, which brought together close to 400 participants from 29 countries. The speakers of the conference, whose contributions are collected in this volume, were invited to offer concrete proposals for how the Humanities can help to shape a future where social robotics is guided by the goals of enhancing socio-cultural values rather than by utility alone. The book is divided into 3 parts; Abstracts of Plenaries, which contains 6 plenary sessions; Session Papers, with 44 papers under 8 thematic categories; and Workshops, containing 25 items on 5 selected topics.” (Website IOS Press) Contributors include Robert Sparrow, Alan Winfield, Aimee van Wynsberghe, John Danaher, Johanna Seibt, Marco Nørskov, Peter Remmers, John P. Sullins, and Oliver Bendel.

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Cozmo is Almost Back

One year ago, The Robot Report reported that Anki’s little robots might be making a comeback. Digital Dream Labs in Pittsburgh acquired the patents, trademarks, and domain. The start-up company “is planning to revive and manufacture more units of each product in the following order: Overdrive, Cozmo, Vector” (The Robot Report, 26 December 2019). Digital Dream Labs founder H. Jacob Hanchar told The Robot Report “the goal is to have all three products available for purchase for Christmas 2020” (The Robot Report, 26 December 2019). Now it seems that pre-orders of Cozmo 2.0 are possible: “Cozmo is a fun, educational toy robot that you can be used to teach children the basics of coding. Whether he is performing tricks, exploring his environment or teaching coding, Cozmo is always full of personality. Pre-order your new Cozmo today for delivery as early as May 15th.” (Website Digital Dream Labs) Cozmo and his friends belong to the best social robots that the industry has ever produced. What is special about Cozmo is the many emotions it can show (but of course doesn’t have). It also has face recognition and a night vision device. More information at www.digitaldreamlabs.com.

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Dangerous Machines or Friendly Companions?

“Dangerous machines or friendly companions? One thing is clear: Our fascination with robots persists. This colloquium in cooperation with TA-SWISS will continue to pursue it.“ This is what it says in the teaser of a text that can be found on the website of the Haus der elektronischen Künste Basel (HeK). “In science fiction films they are presented both as dangerous machines threatening human survival and as friendly companions in our everyday lives. Human-like or animal-like robots, such as the seal Paro, are used in health care, sex robots compensate for the deficits of human relationships, intelligent devices listen to our conversations and take care of our needs …“ (Website HeK) And further: “This event is part of a current study by TA-SWISS which deals with the potentials and risks of social robots that simulate empathy and trigger emotions. The focus is on the new challenges in the relationship between man and machine. At the colloquium, the two scientists Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel and Prof. Dr. Hartmut Schulze and the Swiss artist Simone C. Niquille will provide brief inputs on the topic and discuss the questions raised in a panel discussion.” (Website HeK) More information via www.hek.ch/en/program/events-en/event/kolloquium-soziale-roboter.html.