230087 WS Diagnosis of Society: Social Robotics (2016W)

Over the last 25 years the subfield of social robotics has taken its conceptual and material form through the development of robots such as KISMET, PARO, NAO, LEONARDO, JIBO, AIBO, ALICE, NEXI, KEEPON, KIROBO, ICAT and PEPPER. All of these robots have in common that they are developed in the context of a design paradigm, which places capacities for social interactions with humans as fundamental for building successful artificial agents. In this seminar the student will get an introduction to the topic of social robotics by reflecting upon this technological development through various sociological key notions such as sociality, action, agency, relations, gender, language and culture. In addition the historical context, an empirical case and technical application will be discussed since these aspects are important for a good understanding of the assumptions and attitudes found in social robotics. Overall the seminar aim to bring the student into the debate on social robotics in such a way that they can critically identify, analyze and discuss the societal issues raised by this type of robot-technology.