From Human-Like to Human-Centric Robots: What Type of Alignment to Humans Do We Need?

A Digital Futures Distinguished Lecture by Ginevra Castellano, Professor of Intelligent Interactive Systems at Uppsala University and leader of the Uppsala Social Robotics Lab. Robots are spreading across manufacturing, assistive technology, healthcare and education, where they must interact with people efficiently and in socially acceptable ways; like any technology, they may also change how people think and behave. This calls for human-robot interaction research that designs more human-centric, trustworthy AI and robotics that keep humans at the centre and preserve human agency and autonomy. Castellano presents examples of trustworthy human-robot interaction in education, healthcare and transportation from the Uppsala Social Robotics Lab, examining human agency, autonomy, trust, transparency and fairness in the search for human-centric robots for the societal good.