Pathways
A Research Resource
After the initial research generated from the first Robots and Avatars Forum and the panel held at the Kinetica Art Fair some clear ongoing subjects and issues have come to the forefront, demanding a need for in depth attention. The intergenerational participants at these events helped prioritise the most important and topical concerns. Robots and Avatars has brought together a range of experts and specialists from diverse backgrounds to help fill out and focus these concerns. We have co-created a series of provocative and inspirational debates which have fostered discussion and brought new content for this site.
The pathways section of this site groups together the resources that we have compiled into five key areas:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Behaviours and Ethics
- Health and Wellbeing
- Future World of Work
Artificial Intelligence
‘I feel therefore I am’
Professor Noel Sharkey
Robots and Avatars has focused on the potential evolution of AI in robots and avatars. The aim has been to envision the involvement of a mix of robots, avatars, tele-presence and real-time presence in the work place and examine the consequences of AI into future team and working spaces.
> Read the report on the Lunch Debate here.
> Watch the provocation by Professor Noel Sharkey here.
> Watch highlights of the debate here.
> Watch a Vodcast by Fiddian Warman on Robotics, Creativity and Open Source Programming
Behaviours and Ethics
“Collective collaboration is absolutely key in this debate…but we still have a long way to go…”
Ghislaine Boddington
We have been exploring what the behaviours and ethics would be for young people who will be working with new representational forms of themselves and others up to 2070 in their future careers. In this increasingly fluid future young people will need to be more self reliant, entrepreneurial and dynamic particularly in their working lives. They will have to deal with the new challenges and potential issues which might emerge out of their relationships with robots and avatars. How do these developments impact upon the ways young people behave in virtual space? What are the ethical considerations to think about if you are working with robots?
> Read the Behaviours and Ethics Report here.
> Watch the provocations on Behaviours and Ethics here.
> Watch highlights of the debate here.
> Wach a Vodcast by Professor Anna Craft on Behaviours and Ethics in schools.
Health and Wellbeing
We are exploring developments in health and well being which envision a blend of robots, avatars, tele-presence and real time presence in the workplace. What are the intergenerational implication for this sort of future? How might robots transform social and medical care? How is virtual connectivity helping with self diagnosis? What skills do young people need to be developing now to enter a future where, due to an ageing population and strains on resources, robots might be working as care workers and doctors as avatars?
> Watch a Vodcast by Thecla Schiphorst- Sensory Technologies – Introduction for Young People
> Watch a Vodcast by Professor Raymond Tallis on the future of old age
> Watch a Vodcast by Professor Kevin Warwick on Cybernetics
Future World of Work
The Future World of Work looks at the preparation of young people for forthcoming jobs and careers in this fast moving technological 21st century. The aim is to envision the skills sets, aptitudes, resources and methodologies that will be required by today’s young people in the workplace from 2020 onwards, given that many of the jobs they will do have not yet been invented. In the context of the changing economic climate, now more than ever is the time to explore the implications of the high-tech growth sectors of the future for young people today. A young person starting secondary school now is likely to work until 2070 and the world will look very different by then.
> Read the report on the Robots and Avatars Forum by Steve Boxer
> See a Prezi summarising the Forum
> “Contrary Voices..” looking at some of the issues around Robots and Avatars
> Read the Forum Report by Ricky Compton (Student at Harris Academy)
