Social AI Through the Looking Glass

<p>How does AI affect our society - and how do we affect AI? If AI systems become more empathetic and more intelligent than us, will we prefer social robots over human partners? This course offers an introduction to social robots and how we as humans interact with them. </p><p>The course provides you with tools to understand how artificial intelligence is reshaping the boundaries between technology, culture, ethics, and social structures. You will explore the difference between interacting with another human and with a robot, and how technology may influence our relationships, our thinking, and our society - both now and in the future. Combining philosophy, psychology, and technology, the course gives you an overview of theories of human social cognition and how these theories are applied to understand human-robot interaction. You will also gain insight into how social robots are designed, how they learn and adapt, and the ethical questions that arise as robots become part of our lives. Throughout the course, you will discuss and attempt to answer the question: why, and in what contexts, do we humans need social robots as partners? </p>