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P075


Transformations in human-robot interaction: the contribution of STS to empirical research ‘in the field’ of social robotics 
Convenors:
Stevienna de Saille (University of Sheffield)
Arne Maibaum
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Format:
Traditional Open Panel
Location:
NU-4A06
Sessions:
Wednesday 17 July, -, -
Time zone: Europe/Amsterdam

Short Abstract:

In this panel we invite papers which discuss mobilizing STS sensibilities to help transform and make visible the social in social robotics. We are especially interested in qualitative empirical research that examines the positionality and reflexivity of STS scholars ‘in the field’.

Long Abstract:

Recent years have seen growth in the sub-discipline of human-robot interaction (HRI), which draws largely from quantitative psychology. Alongside this has been an explosion of abstract theoretical literature which explores ethics, relations between humans and machines and other aspects of robotics. While such research has its place, both in their own way tend to be detached from the empirical realities of deploying robots ‘in the field’, and from the actual processes of imagining, funding, and building machines with social functions.

In this panel we ask how qualitative empirical research in the field of social robotics can develop scholarship that uses STS sensibilities, paradigms and practices to inform our participation in the making and doing of social robotics. How should the confluence of the robotic, the human and the social be studied as a set of co-constructed potential futures, rather than as pre-set solutions for problems in which neither context, purpose nor users are well defined? What other forms of knowledge production can we utilize as an antidote to instrumental engineering imaginaries, particularly where these claim to be solving societal challenges for vulnerable groups, such as elderly or disabled people? How do we as STS scholars work against technosolutionism, and avoid being co-opted into engineering imaginaries when working on interdisciplinary projects?

We invite papers which discuss these and similar questions about mobilizing STS sensibilities to help transform and make visible the social in social robotics, in ways which can shape and influence the trajectory of engineering projects. We are especially interested in qualitative empirical research that examines the positionality and reflexivity of STS scholars with regard to the study of social robots, as well as those examining the new and experimental forms of normativity and relationality which are beginning to arise around robots and human engagement.

Accepted papers:

Session 1 Wednesday 17 July, 2024, -
Session 2 Wednesday 17 July, 2024, -