ETH Global Lecture Series: When is Real Really Real?
18 November 2021 - Online Event - A conversation between Kate Darling, MIT, and Markus Gross, ETH Zurich, about robots, how to make them likable and how to tell their story.
Free public online event
Moderated by Chris Luebkeman, ETH Zurich
Thursday, 18 November 2021
17.00 - 18.00 Zurich (CET)
What do robots and a domesticated beast have in common? Perhaps far more than we want to believe. We have much to learn from our relationship with animals in the way we can, could and will relate to robots of all kinds. And relating is the act of us telling ourselves a story about what we are seeing. So what happens to this ‘telling’, and ‘receiving’, when there is a deep digital overlay on the physical world. How will we tell stories in this new context? What will this mean for the future of storytelling? Disney has fine-tuned the art and craft of giving artificial characters the “illusion of life” so we almost instantaneously bond emotionally with them. Some of the ‘tools’ which are used are the same which have been used in the domestication of animals. Even in the way that specific characteristics have been bred, or designed, to make them more appealing to us. What will it mean when we can no longer differentiate between robot and beast? Will it matter? Will you care?
Join this dialogue between leading expert in Robot Ethics, Kate Darling (MIT), and Professor and Director of Disney Research Studios, Markus Gross (ETH Zurich), moderated by Chris Luebkeman (ETH Zurich).
external page Dr. Kate Darling is a leading expert in Robot Ethics. She’s a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, where she investigates social robotics and conducts experimental studies on human-robot interaction. Kate explores the emotional connection between people and life-like machines, seeking to influence technology design and policy direction. Her writing and research anticipate difficult questions that lawmakers, engineers, and the wider public will need to address as human-robot relationships evolve in the coming decades.
Prof. Markus Gross is Professor of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, head of the Computer Graphics Laboratory, Vice President of Research, The Walt Disney Studios and the director of DisneyResearch|Studios. He joined the ETH Computer Science faculty in 1994. His research interests include physically based modeling, computer animation, immersive displays, and video technology.