Today I spent a couple of hours in hackathon mode with fellow members of the AmonI (Artificial Models of Natural Intelligence) research group at Bath . We decided it was time to bring the AmonI web pages up to date, so that the web site properly reflects our previous and current … Continue Reading ››
Category Archives: News
Bath TEDx – Will robots be our new best friends?
I'm looking forward to speaking at this TEDx event at the end of this month. The speaker lineup is diverse, and I'm sure we will all contribute in different ways to 'Light Up the Future' - the theme of these TEDx talks. I'll be speaking about how AI and robotics, in … Continue Reading ››
June 2018 Update
I've not posted anything here for a while now, so here is a quick update. I passed my PhD Viva in May, completed 9 hours of minor corrections, and will graduate in July. My PhD Dissertation - Using Other Minds: Transparency as a Fundamental Design Consideration for Artificial Intelligent Systems - will shortly be available on … Continue Reading ››
Why AI may fail to help us with solutions to our problems
These ideas have recently been reinforced after reading an excellent paper by Paul Rauwolf and Joanna Bryson - Expectations of Fairness and Trust Co-Evolve in Environments of Partial Information.
This is not a fully considered hypothesis, but I want to get it out there for comment, so please do.
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Robot Ethics – Engaging with the Public
This is a quick update. I'll put a proper page together when I have some more time. I've been doing quite a lot over the last few months to engage with non academics.
Here is my TEDx Frome in January at The Merlin Theatre, Frome
Here is a … Continue Reading ››
Reactive Planning for Robotics and Agent Based Models
This page has been created for the AISB Tutorial/Hackathon event, part of AISB2017 at the University of Bath, but may be used by anyone wanting to get practical hands-on experience with reactive planning for robot control.
Before reading this page, please read the Instinct Planner page for background information on reactive planning in … Continue Reading ››
Evolution – The key to understanding Humans and Robots
This week I am primarily focused on preparing my talk for the TEDx event in Frome on 28th January. I am giving a talk about how humans interact with robots, and why it is important that we design our robots to be understandable and transparent, rather than mysterious and deceptive.
However, as I started … Continue Reading ››
Robot Encounter and Transparency
Over the last year or so, one of my main research interests has been machine transparency. We've been using the R5 Robot in various 'robot encounter' experiments, both online using video recordings and in a live environment. We've shown that people do not naturally form good mental models of robots on first encounter. They … Continue Reading ››
Two days in the Melting Pot
Last week I spent two days with 24 other 'early career' academics in a hotel in Swansea, South Wales. We each presented our research, learnt how to interact with the press, commercialise research, work with industry partners and make up lightening sketches. The event was the first of … Continue Reading ››
Article in The Conversation – Robot Butlers
How to design trustworthy robot butlers that we won’t want to treat like humans
Today I had this article published … Continue Reading ››