Robots and Us — Useful Roles of Robots in Human Society

My talk will highlight some of the developments over the past 15 years in human-robot interaction and social robotics. I have been fascinated by this area since it requires us to tackle hard problems in many dimensions, including robot design and functionalities. robot cognition and intelligence, and last but not least the human dimension of how people perceive robots and how we relate to robots. I will make a few points on what robots are, and what they are not, and emphasize useful roles they can play in human society. Particularly promising are areas where robots are not meant to replace humans, but carry out tasks that they are specifically good at. I will illustrate those points with examples of research projects I have been involved in, and highlight lessons that we have learned over the years in our quest to develop robot companions that provide useful assistance and are socially acceptable. These examples include work on robotic mediators for children with autism and special needs, including research on robot-assisted therapy for children with autism and robot-mediated interviews, as well as work with different home companion robots which are meant to support older people’s independent living at home. It is my firm belief that robots can play a valuable role in human society, e.g. as helpful tools, mediators, assistants and companions, if we exploit the strengths of both robots and humans, considering the specific requirements in real-world application areas, while preserving human dignity, privacy and independence.