About this event

Background

This free evening lecture, delivered by Professor Alan Winfield, is taking place as part of the 12th Conference Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS 2011) which is taking place between 31 August – 02 September 2011 in Sheffield.

About the lecture

“Where is robotics going?” is a question that receives a great deal of attention. The reason for this owes much to the fictional roots of robotics and the fact that robots have a significant place in our cultural imagination. Thus roboticists find themselves having to address fears and fascinations that often have little to do with the reality of robotics. 

This lecture will address the question of robotic futures by – as far as possible – unpicking the fantastical and the plausible. Like any transformative technology, intelligent robotics has the potential for huge benefit, but is not without risk. Seventy years ago Asimov created his fictional laws of robotics. I believe it is now time for a revision but, as I will argue in this lecture, it makes no sense to talk about how present-day or near-future robots can be ethical. I will, however, outline the case for a new ethical code for roboticists.

About the speaker

Alan Winfield is Hewlett-Packard Professor of Electronic Engineering and Director of the Science Communication Unit at the University of the West of England, Bristol. He conducts research in swarm robotics in the Bristol Robotics Laboratory and is especially interested in robots as working models of life, evolution, intelligence and culture. Alan is passionate about communicating science and technology. He holds an EPSRC Senior Media Fellowship with the theme Intelligent Robots in Science and Society, and blogs about robots, open science and related topics on his blog.

TAROS 2011

This conference is ideal for those working in the field of autonomous robotics and there is a great programme in place. There is still time for you to register for the full conference, just visit the TAROS 2011 website.

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