Social robotics and ethical issues in human-machine interactions, by AFRAN guest speaker, A/Prof. Vé

From 29th of November to the 4th of December, AFRAN was pleased to invite Associate Professor Véronique Aubergé in Australia.

Véronique Aubergé is a CNRS researcher in human sciences at the LIG Lab (Grenoble, France) where she heads the Domus Living Lab platform, and is director of the I3L department at the University of Grenoble-Alpes. She also heads the Chair Robo’Ethics at Grenoble National Polytechnics Institute. Expert in human-machine interactions, she studies the social robotics and questions the role of robots in our society, and the impact of the empathic illusion of human for robots.

A/Prof Véronique Aubergé travelled in Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane to start important discussions with Australian researchers, and hopefully initiate future collaborative projects between France and Australia in this promising field.

In Canberra, she participated in a roundtable and a keynote speech at the ANU, co-organized by AFRAN and the 3A institute. During her keynote speech, she shared her vision on the social dimension of artificial intelligence. The panel members of the roundtable could then debate on the role of IA in Industry and ethical concerns in human-machine interactions. She met Dr. Nicole Robinson from the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision, A/PR. Seth Lazar from the ANU School of Philosophy and Dr. Caitlin Bentley from the ANU 3A Institute.

In Melbourne, Pr. Aubergé gave a public lecture at the Monash University. She had the opportunity to meet with Prof Philip Cohen, Director of the Laboratory for Dialogue Research and Prof Sharon Oviatt, head of the Human-Computer Interaction and Human-Centered A.I group. Her Melbourne trip ended with the visit of the SensiLab with Prof. Jon McCormack, its director.

Finally, in Brisbane, Pr. Aubergé gave a public lecture at the Centre of Excellence for Robotic Vision, hosted by Pr. Sue Keay, the Centre’s Chief Operating Officer. She met researchers from The University of Queensland, the chair of Digital Economy and QUT Creative industry.

This visit offered many opportunities to meet key players in the social robotic fields. Paths and ideas were identified to consolidate the linkages between French and Australian institutes and labs.

You can watch an interview of Véronique at ANU on this link