Robots should not be Robinson Crusoes
(Invited Lecture)
Tony Belpaeme
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Abstract
Cognitive science has recently started to see human cognition as being
the product of cultural interactions. The concepts that we humans use,
the social rules that we adhere to, and the languages that we speak all
seem to be imbedded in our day to day interactions with each other. The
mix of all these interactions between individuals we call "culture". We
humans are surrounded by others and therefore we are inescapably
surrounded by culture.
We cannot be seen as separated individuals, living on uninhabited
islands. However, too often robot researchers see robots in a Robinson
Crusoe-like isolation, void from contact with other robots or human
beings. In this talk we argue that if we are to construct artificial
systems that need to interact with humans and need to have a similar
world view, then we cannot see these systems as being separated from
human culture.
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