Robots are everywhere, but science fiction has shaped our mental model for what a robot is and is not, and we might fear the worst.

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Do You Trust Your Robots?
Sharatoga Tech Talks
September 16th, 2015
@becca_kennedy

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Who am I?
Human
 Not a robot
Design Psychologist
 Human-technology interaction
 User experience (UX) design
Scientist
 Usability testing
 Instructional design
 RPI’s Center for Modeling, Simulation, and Imaging in Medicine

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“I think we should be very
careful about artificial
intelligence.
If I had to guess at
what our biggest
existential threat is,
it’s probably that.
I’m increasingly inclined to
think that there should be
some regulatory oversight,
maybe at the national and
international level, just to
make sure that we don’t do
something very foolish.”
- Elon Musk (2014)

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“The development of full artificial intelligence
could spell the end of the human race.
It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever
increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological
evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.”
- Stephen Hawking (2014)

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Robots are already among us.
How do we define whether
something is a robot?
 Logical intelligence
 Social intelligence
 Mobility
 Autonomy
 ???

6.  Movies, TV, and books have helped us form an
understanding of how robots appear and behave
 In Psychology-speak, this is called our mental model
Science fiction has shaped our
expectation for what a robot is.

7. …so, we think they’re kinda evil.

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“The saddest aspect of
life right now is that
science gathers
knowledge faster than
society gathers
wisdom.”
- Isaac Asimov (1988)

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We need to responsibly design
the future.
 Robots are better for some tasks than others
 Visual design should match functionality
 Asimov’s Laws of Robotics
 First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a
human being to come to harm.
 Second Law: A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where
such orders would conflict with the First Law.
 Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection
does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
 Later, the Zeroth Law: A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow
humanity to come to harm.

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“I’m an inventor. I became
interested in long-term
trends because an invention
has to make sense in the
world in which it is finished,
not the world in which it is
started.”
- Ray Kurzweil

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Thank you! Questions?
@becca_kennedy / @KennasonUX