In advance of Sheffield Robotics’ Platform for Investigation day at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry on 20 January, I wrote this blog post: 5 reasons why you don’t need to fear the Robopocalypse (and 2 why you might…)
New project: Cyberselves
Our team from Sheffield Robotics, University of Sheffield, led by my colleague Tony Prescott, has received an AHRC grant for our Cyberselves project, to examine the transforming impact of immersive technologies on our societies and cultures.
Bluedot Festival
I was part of a team from Sheffield Robotics that attended the Bluedot Festival of music and science at Jodrell Bank, UK from 7 – 9 July. MCR Live did some filming, and bits of an interview I did with them can be found here:
Connection Science special editions on principles of robotics
My colleague Tony Prescott and I co-edited a two-volumes of Connection Science dedicated to reevaluating the EPSRC’s Principles of Robotics. (Access to all the articles is free for a month.)
A press release announcing the publication can be found here.
My article can be found here.
My ‘Rapporteur’s Report‘ on the discussion can be found here.
Our editorials can be found here (Part 1) and here (Part 2).
The full contents can be found here (Vol 2) and here (Vol 3).
Can a robot replace Ed Sheeran? BBC Radio 1
On Tuesday, March 21, 2017, some of my colleagues from Sheffield Robotics and I were used as contributors to BBC Radio 1‘s programme ‘Can a robot replace Ed Sheeran?‘.
‘Facing the Robot Revolution’ by Mark Mardell
BBC Radio 4 presenter Mark Mardell visited Sheffield Robotics recently and wrote this article about the time he spent there talking to Sheffield researchers, including yours truly.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39028030
I should clarify that while of course robots will definitely take more human jobs, the 60% figure was merely an example of some of the claims others have made, and not my firm prediction. (I would never put a hard number of something like that; my job isn’t to put numbers on such things, but help prepare for whatever future we do face by engaging people in discussions and debates.)
Festival of the Mind 2016 (2)
The nice people at the University of Sheffield produced this video of the project that I undertook with the fabulously talented Rita Marcalo at Instant Dissidence for 2016’s Festival of the Mind.
BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking: Man and Animals
Back on Tues, 15 November, I took part in a discussion hosted by Free Thinking on BBC Radio 3. Entitled ‘Man and Animals‘, it was part of the 2016 Being Human Festival, recorded at FACT in Liverpool.
The programme can be heard here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b082kwsl
The full description is below:
French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss famously said that ‘animals are good to think with’. Rana Mitter with Sarah Peverley, Charles Forsdick, Alasdair Cochrane, Eveline de Wolf, Michael Szollosy and an audience at FACT, Liverpool debate robots, humans and animals.
The broadcast will preview upcoming events organised by the University of Liverpool as part of their Being Human festival programme and is part of a week of programmes on Radio 3 focusing on new research and the UK wide festival supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
From a best friend to a tasty snack or something we must carefully husband to a threat we must eradicate, we humans think about animals in lots of ways. But how has our thinking about animals changed over time, and what does that tell us about our shifting attitudes toward the natural world and our place in it? Hear the views of a medievalist who studies bestiaries and mermaids, a French scholar who explores the history of the ‘human zoo’, and a political theorist who argues that we should extend human rights to animals, a zookeeper, and an expert on human-robot relations.
Producer: Luke Mulhall
Westworld blog on mad scientists and corporate villains
I’ve published another blog on Westworld, addressing larger themes in science fiction more generally:
The Ford Factor: mad scientists and corporate villains
Also available on Robohub.
