How to think about robots
EVENT UPDATE
Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances this event will be POSTPONED. We will endeavour to reschedule this event and will be in touch as soon as possible. Please feel free to get in touch via our contact details below with any questions.
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The robots are coming! Nowhere is safe. Not our factories, fields, offices, cars or even our homes.
But, instead of throwing up our hands in horror, maybe it’s time to start viewing robots in the same way we might see a horse, a dog or even a carrier pigeon. Perhaps our robotic comrades will enrich - rather than replace - our skills and abilities? After all, humans have worked happily side-by-side with our animal associates for centuries.
Join Kate Darling, a world-renowned expert in robot ethics from MIT's Media Lab, and author of The New Breed: What Our History with Animals Reveals about Our Future with Robots, in conversation with UNSW's AI guru Toby Walsh. Find out how our relationships with robots may end up mirroring, not just our relationships with animals, but other people, too. Watch them unpack some of the biggest questions about our robot-filled future. A future that is much less black and white than the headlines would have you believe.
This event is presented by the UNSW Centre for Ideas and supported by Inspiring Australia as a part of National Science Week. Head here to see full program.
The Centre for Ideas’ new series of international conversations brings the world to Sydney. Each digital event brings a leading UNSW thinker together with their international peer or hero to explore inspiration, new ideas and discoveries.
ABOUT DIGITAL EVENTS
This event will be available on the UNSW Centre for Ideas website, Facebook, and UNSW YouTube channel.
A link to watch the event will be sent on the event day to registered attendees.
CONTACT
For event enquiries or to discuss your access requirements, please call the Centre for Ideas on 02 9065 0485 or email centreforideas@unsw.edu.au.
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Kate Darling
Dr Kate Darling is a leading expert in robot ethics. She is a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, where she investigates social robotics and conducts experimental studies on human-robot interactions. Kate explores the emotional connection between people and life-like machines, seeking to influence technology design and policy direction. Her writing and research anticipate many of the most difficult questions that lawmakers, engineers, and the wider public will need to address as human-robot relationships evolve in the coming decades. Her most recent book The New Breed: What Our History with Animals Reveals about Our Future with Robots, is a bold and challenging exploration on thinking differently about robots.
Toby Walsh
Toby Walsh is Chief Scientist of UNSW.AI, UNSW Sydney’s new AI Institute. He is a strong advocate for limits to ensure AI is used to improve our lives, having spoken at the UN and to heads of state, parliamentary bodies, company boards and many others on this topic. This advocacy has led to him being "banned indefinitely" from Russia. He is a Fellow of the Australia Academy of Science and was named on the international "Who's Who in AI" list of influencers. He has written four books on AI for a general audience, the most recent is Faking It! Artificial Intelligence in a Human World.
