The de Gruyter Handbook of Robots in Society and Culture

The de Gruyter Handbook of Robots in Society and Culture PDF Author: Leopoldina Fortunati
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783110792157
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The De Gruyter Handbook of Robots in Society and Culture provides a comprehensive discussion of how social robots take form, function, and meaning for individuals, relationships, cultures, and societies. Through a path-breaking integration of perspectives coming from sociology, communication and media, psychology, cognitive neuroscience, anthropology, political science, and science and technology studies, it focuses on the critical and social meaning of present developments in social robotic technologies. This book looks at artificial agents - from voice-based assistants to humanoid robots-- as their use transforms private and public contexts and gives rise to both new possibilities and new perils for human being and becoming, organizations as well as social structures and institutions. The handbook traces the consequences and key problems of social robotics across broad social contexts in both public and political as well as domestic and intimate spaces. Further, it attends carefully to the implications of social robotics for various human identity groups, including those based on gender, ethnicity, culture, class, ability, and age. Deep attention to interdisciplinarity, inclusivity, ethics, and socio-cultural futures serves as the guiding inspiration behind each contribution within this handbook.

The de Gruyter Handbook of Robots in Society and Culture

The de Gruyter Handbook of Robots in Society and Culture PDF Author: Leopoldina Fortunati
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783110792157
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
The De Gruyter Handbook of Robots in Society and Culture provides a comprehensive discussion of how social robots take form, function, and meaning for individuals, relationships, cultures, and societies. Through a path-breaking integration of perspectives coming from sociology, communication and media, psychology, cognitive neuroscience, anthropology, political science, and science and technology studies, it focuses on the critical and social meaning of present developments in social robotic technologies. This book looks at artificial agents - from voice-based assistants to humanoid robots-- as their use transforms private and public contexts and gives rise to both new possibilities and new perils for human being and becoming, organizations as well as social structures and institutions. The handbook traces the consequences and key problems of social robotics across broad social contexts in both public and political as well as domestic and intimate spaces. Further, it attends carefully to the implications of social robotics for various human identity groups, including those based on gender, ethnicity, culture, class, ability, and age. Deep attention to interdisciplinarity, inclusivity, ethics, and socio-cultural futures serves as the guiding inspiration behind each contribution within this handbook.

The De Gruyter Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, Identity and Technology Studies

The De Gruyter Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, Identity and Technology Studies PDF Author: Anthony Elliott
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110721848
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
The De Gruyter Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, Identity and Technology Studies examines the relationship of the social sciences to artificial intelligence, surveying the various convergences and divergences between science and technology studies on the one hand and identity transformations on the other. It provides representative coverage of all aspects of the AI revolution, from employment to education to military warfare, impacts on public policy and governance and the future of ethics. How is AI currently transforming social, economic, cultural and psychological processes? This handbook answers these questions by looking at recent developments in supercomputing, deep learning and neural networks, including such topics as AI mobile technology, social robotics, big data and digital research. It focuses especially on mechanisms of identity by defining AI as a new context for self-exploration and social relations and analyzing phenomena such as race, ethnicity and gender politics in human-machine interfaces.

The de Gruyter Handbook of Automated Futures

The de Gruyter Handbook of Automated Futures PDF Author: Martin Berg
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783110792249
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
How does automation affect us, our environment, and our imaginations? Conversely, what should we do about automation? Besides grand narratives and technology-driven design visions of the future, what else can automation provide? With these questions in mind, The De Gruyter Handbook of Automated Futures provides a framework for thinking and doing automation differently while consolidating automated futures as an inter- and transdisciplinary research field. It embeds the imaginaries, interactions and impacts of automation technology in their social, historical, societal, cultural, and political contexts. Scholars and students can use the handbook to imagine, realise and anticipate the possible futures of automation while learning about and engaging with these futures ethically and responsibly. The handbook promotes an agenda that is critical yet constructive and engaging by inviting readers to work with rather than resist automation agendas. Rather than being limited to assessing and evaluating already developed technologies, the handbook illustrates how the humanities and social sciences are essential to the design and governance of people- and planet-centric sociotechnical systems. A fundamental pedagogical approach underpins the handbook. It examines how co-learning and co-creation can be staged and analysed with, rather than for, people and stakeholders and encourages readers to engage in new and alternate modes of research.

Animals, Machines, and AI

Animals, Machines, and AI PDF Author: Erika Quinn
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110753677
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Sentient animals, machines, and robots abound in German literature and culture, but there has been surprisingly limited scholarship on non-human life forms in German studies. This volume extends interdisciplinary research in emotion studies to examine non-humans and the affective relationships between humans and non-humans in modern German cultural history. In recent years, fascination with emotions, developments in robotics, and the burgeoning of animal studies in and beyond the academy have given rise to questions about the nature of humanity. Using sources from the life sciences, literature, visual art, poetry, philosophy, and photography, this collection interrogates not animal or machine emotions per se, but rather uses animals and machines as lenses through which to investigate human emotions and the affective entanglements between humans and non-humans. The COVID-19 pandemic made us more keenly aware of the importance of both animals and new technologies in our daily lives, and this volume ultimately sheds light on the centrality of non-humans in the human emotional world and the possibilities that relationships with non-humans offer for enriching that world.

Robots that Talk and Listen

Robots that Talk and Listen PDF Author: Judith Markowitz
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 1614514402
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
Robots That Talk and Listen provides a forward-looking examination of speech and language in robots from technical, functional, and social perspectives. Contributors address cultural foundations as well as the linguistic skills and technologies that robots need to function effectively in real-world settings. Among the most difficult and complex is the ability to understand and use language. Speech-enabled automata are already serving as interactive toys, teacher’s aides, and research assistants. These robots will soon be joined by personal companions, industrial co-workers, and military support automata. The social impact of these and other robots extends well beyond the specific tasks they perform. Contributors tackle the most knotty of those issues, notably acceptance of advanced, speech-enabled robots and developing ethical and moral controls for robots. Topics in this book include: • Language and Beyond: The True Meaning of “Speech Enabled” • Robots in Myth and Media • Enabling Robots to Converse • Language Learning by Automata • Handling Noisy Settings • Empirical Studies of Robots in Real-World Environments • Acceptance of Intelligent Robots • Managing Robots that Can Lie and Deceive • Envisioning a World Shared with Intelligent Robots

Robot Ecology

Robot Ecology PDF Author: Magnus Egerstedt
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691230072
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
A revolutionary new framework that draws on insights from ecology for the design and analysis of long-duration robots Robots are increasingly leaving the confines of laboratories, warehouses, and manufacturing facilities, venturing into agriculture and other settings where they must operate in uncertain conditions over long timescales. This multidisciplinary book draws on the principles of ecology to show how robots can take full advantage of the environments they inhabit, including as sources of energy. Magnus Egerstedt introduces a revolutionary new design paradigm—robot ecology—that makes it possible to achieve long-duration autonomy while avoiding catastrophic failures. Central to ecology is the idea that the richness of an organism’s behavior is a function of the environmental constraints imposed by its habitat. Moving beyond traditional strategies that focus on optimal policies for making robots achieve targeted tasks, Egerstedt explores how to use survivability constraints to produce both effective and provably safe robot behaviors. He blends discussions of ecological principles with the development of control barrier functions as a formal approach to constraint-based control design, and provides an in-depth look at the design of the SlothBot, a slow and energy-efficient robot used for environmental monitoring and conservation. Visionary in scope, Robot Ecology presents a comprehensive and unified methodology for designing robots that can function over long durations in diverse natural environments.

De Gruyter Handbook of Organizational Conflict Management

De Gruyter Handbook of Organizational Conflict Management PDF Author: LaVena Wilkin
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110746506
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
The De Gruyter Handbook of Organizational Conflict Management offers insightful contributions covering a myriad of conflict management topics ranging from fundamental issues, such as emotional intelligence and cultural differences, to cutting-edge themes such as political conflicts and mindfulness training. Renowned conflict management scholars and leading practitioners have contributed chapters to this handbook based on their research and their practical experience in the field of confl ict management. Many of the authors have influenced the topic of conflict management as it has become both a fi eld of academic study in universities and a necessary leadership skill. The handbook is organized in four sections. The first section covers interpersonal conflict management and focuses on perceptions, conflict styles, emotional intelligence, psychological safety, and change. The second section includes ethnic and cultural issues in organizational conflict management, such as microaggressions, ethnicity and religion, and political conflicts. The third section offers methods for managing organizational conflicts, including mediation, negotiation, ombudspersons, and conflict coaching. This section also offers guidance on developing an organizational conflict management system and discusses HR’s role in managing conflicts. The fourth section introduces chapters on special topics in conflict management, such as workplace bullying, gender issues, birth order personality, human connections, and forgiveness. This handbook is an essential reference for scholars and practitioners. It offers organizational leaders insights into the causes and solutions to organizational conflict management. In addition, it is an excellent textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in organizational conflict management.

Humans Need Not Apply

Humans Need Not Apply PDF Author: Jerry Kaplan
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300216416
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
An “intriguing, insightful” look at how algorithms and robots could lead to social unrest—and how to avoid it (The Economist, Books of the Year). After decades of effort, researchers are finally cracking the code on artificial intelligence. Society stands on the cusp of unprecedented change, driven by advances in robotics, machine learning, and perception powering systems that rival or exceed human capabilities. Driverless cars, robotic helpers, and intelligent agents that promote our interests have the potential to usher in a new age of affluence and leisure—but as AI expert and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jerry Kaplan warns, the transition may be protracted and brutal unless we address the two great scourges of the modern developed world: volatile labor markets and income inequality. In Humans Need Not Apply, he proposes innovative, free-market adjustments to our economic system and social policies to avoid an extended period of social turmoil. His timely and accessible analysis of the promises and perils of AI is a must-read for business leaders and policy makers on both sides of the aisle. “A reminder that AI systems don’t need red laser eyes to be dangerous.”—Times Higher Education Supplement “Kaplan…sidesteps the usual arguments of techno-optimism and dystopia, preferring to go for pragmatic solutions to a shrinking pool of jobs.”—Financial Times

Active Materials

Active Materials PDF Author: Peter Fratzl
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110562200
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 521

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Book Description
What are active materials? This book aims to introduce and redefine conceptions of matter by considering materials as entities that ‘sense’ and respond to their environment. By examining the modeling of, the experiments on, and the construction of these materials, and by developing a theory of their structure, their collective activity, and their functionality, this volume identifies and develops a novel scientific approach to active materials. Moreover, essays on the history and philosophy of metallurgy, chemistry, biology, and materials science provide these various approaches to active materials with a historical and cultural context. The interviews with experts from the natural sciences included in this volume develop new understandings of ‘active matter’ and active materials in relation to a range of research objects and from the perspective of different scientific disciplines, including biology, physics, chemistry, and materials science. These insights are complemented by contributions on the activity of matter and materials from the humanities and the design field. Discusses the mechanisms of active materials and their various conceptualizations in materials science. Redefines conceptions of active materials through interviews with experts from the natural sciences. Contextualizes, historizes, and reflects on different notions of matter/materials and activity through contributions from the humanities. A highly interdisciplinary approach to a cutting-edge research topic, with contributions from both the sciences and the humanities.

New Laws of Robotics

New Laws of Robotics PDF Author: Frank Pasquale
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674975227
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
AI is poised to disrupt our work and our lives. We can harness these technologies rather than fall captive to them—but only through wise regulation. Too many CEOs tell a simple story about the future of work: if a machine can do what you do, your job will be automated. They envision everyone from doctors to soldiers rendered superfluous by ever-more-powerful AI. They offer stark alternatives: make robots or be replaced by them. Another story is possible. In virtually every walk of life, robotic systems can make labor more valuable, not less. Frank Pasquale tells the story of nurses, teachers, designers, and others who partner with technologists, rather than meekly serving as data sources for their computerized replacements. This cooperation reveals the kind of technological advance that could bring us all better health care, education, and more, while maintaining meaningful work. These partnerships also show how law and regulation can promote prosperity for all, rather than a zero-sum race of humans against machines. How far should AI be entrusted to assume tasks once performed by humans? What is gained and lost when it does? What is the optimal mix of robotic and human interaction? New Laws of Robotics makes the case that policymakers must not allow corporations or engineers to answer these questions alone. The kind of automation we get—and who it benefits—will depend on myriad small decisions about how to develop AI. Pasquale proposes ways to democratize that decision making, rather than centralize it in unaccountable firms. Sober yet optimistic, New Laws of Robotics offers an inspiring vision of technological progress, in which human capacities and expertise are the irreplaceable center of an inclusive economy.