Teena Chakkalayil Hassan: Social interaction of humans and robots

On Jun 20, Prof. Dr. Teena Chakkalayil Hassan, Professor for Autonomous Systems at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, will be guest speaker in the lecture series Technical and Environmental Ethics. Teena Chakkalayil Hassan will give her lecture in English language.

The title of her lecture will be „Enabling social interaction between humans and robots” and she will talk about the communication between humans and robotic systems. She will look at current developments, progress, ethical issues and future prospects.

Robots and robot assistants are becoming increasingly important for our society. This requires functioning communication between us and the technology. This raises the question of how "human" this communication should feel. This is particularly illustrated by the example of care robots: should robots be recognizably artificial or appear human? Should the robots merely take over tasks or fully simulate human behavior? Where is the balance so that patients feel comfortable interacting with the robot assistants? Together with the robotics researcher Teena Chakkalayil Hassan, you will certainly form your own opinion.

Teena Chakkalayil Hassan is looking towards the discussion with the students: "Robots are coming closer to humans, either coexisting in the same physical environment or collaborating to complete a shared task, often involving the joint handling of objects. This makes ethical considerations, especially safety and privacy protection, inevitable in robotics research and development. We want robots to enhance human competence and quality of life without compromising human autonomy. The ability to communicate naturally with robots would go a long way in enabling safe and intuitive interaction, reducing interaction fatigue, and consequently improving technology acceptance."

Prof. Dr. Teena Hassans completed her Master's degree in Autonomous Systems at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, where she focused on the development of technologies for people with special needs. Her research included the taxonomy of mobility assistance systems and the recognition of emotions through facial expressions. After graduating in 2014, she continued her research at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, as well as at the Bielefeld University and the University of Bremen. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Bamberg in 2020 and is currently the Director of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems (A2S) at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences.

In the summer semester 2024, artificial intelligence will be the focus of the lecture series on technology and environmental ethics at H-BRS. AI is now part of our lives, is changing our work and is developing rapidly. Nine experts will give lectures on AI in various scientific disciplines and professions and then discuss opportunities, risks and ethical issues with students and the audience.