sociable-robots
Robotic devices designed to interact socially with humans, often targeting companionship and emotional engagement.
6 chapters across 2 books
Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other (2011)Sherry Turkle
This chapter serves as an author's note reflecting on Sherry Turkle's thirty-year research trajectory studying the evolving relationship between humans and computers, particularly focusing on the young "digital natives." It traces the shift from early one-on-one interactions with computers as evocative objects fostering self-reflection, to networked virtual lives and sociable robots, highlighting growing concerns about technology replacing intimate human relationships. Turkle situates her work within a psychoanalytic and ethnographic framework, emphasizing how technology shapes identity and social expectations.
This chapter explores children's interactions with sociable robots like AIBO and My Real Baby, focusing on how these robots evoke fantasies of robotic caretakers who might one day replace or supplement human babysitters. Children pragmatically evaluate robots' potential as reliable, attentive caretakers, often contrasting robotic care with the limitations of human caregivers in their lives. The chapter highlights a cultural shift from fear of robots to imagining them as benevolent companions capable of providing emotional and practical support.
Chapter 5, "Complicities," explores the complex relationships between humans and sociable robots such as Cog and Kismet, highlighting how humans attribute social and emotional qualities to machines despite their limited capabilities. It discusses the psychological and ethical implications of these interactions, referencing concepts like the uncanny valley, human alterity, and the ethical summons of a robot's face, while also considering the limits of robots' social and moral capacities.
The Second Self (1984)Sherry Turkle
This chapter explores children's interactions with sociable robots like AIBO and My Real Baby, focusing on how these robots evoke fantasies of robotic caretaking and companionship. It highlights children's pragmatic attitudes toward robots as potential babysitters, emphasizing their hopes for reliability, attentiveness, and emotional support in contrast to often disappointing human caretakers. The chapter also discusses the cultural shift from viewing robots as frightening to seeing them as benevolent helpers and companions.
This chapter explores the author's encounter with Cog and Kismet, two socially interactive robots designed to simulate human-like learning and emotional expression. It examines the complex emotional responses humans, especially children, have toward these robots, highlighting the blurred boundaries between machine and person and the human desire for connection and care. The chapter also discusses the implications of these interactions for understanding human identity, social intelligence, and the needs that robots symbolically fulfill.
Chapter 5, "Complicities," explores human interactions with sociable robots such as Cog and Kismet, highlighting the emotional and ethical complexities that arise when humans attribute alterity and social presence to machines. The chapter discusses the 'uncanny valley' phenomenon, philosophical perspectives on the ethical implications of robotic faces, and the challenges of forming genuine social and moral relationships with robots. It also reflects on children's responses to robots and the tension between technological capabilities and human psychological and ethical frameworks.