Integrative Social Robotics, Value-Driven Design, and Transdisciplinarity

TY - JOUR

T1 - Integrative Social Robotics, Value-Driven Design, and Transdisciplinarity

AU - Seibt, Johanna

AU - Damholdt, Malene Flensborg

AU - Vestergaard, Christina

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - “Integrative Social Robotics” (ISR) is a new approach or general method for generating social robotics applications in a responsible and “culturally sustainable” fashion. Currently social robotics is caught in a basic difficulty we call the “triple gridlock of description, evaluation, and regulation”. We briefly recapitulate this problem and then present the core ideas of ISR in the form of five principles that should guide the development of applications in social robotics. Characteristic of ISR is to intertwine a mixed method approach (i.e., conducting experimental, quantitative, qualitative, and phenomenological research for the same envisaged application) with conceptual and axiological analysis as required in professional studies in applied ethics; moreover, ISR is value-driven and abides by the “Non-Replacement Principle”: Social robots may only do what humans should but cannot do. We briefly compare ISR to other value-sensitive or value-directed design models, with a view to the task of overcoming the triple gridlock. Finally, working from an advanced classification of pluridiscplinary research, we argue that ISR establishes a research format that can turn social robotics into a new transdiscipline.

AB - “Integrative Social Robotics” (ISR) is a new approach or general method for generating social robotics applications in a responsible and “culturally sustainable” fashion. Currently social robotics is caught in a basic difficulty we call the “triple gridlock of description, evaluation, and regulation”. We briefly recapitulate this problem and then present the core ideas of ISR in the form of five principles that should guide the development of applications in social robotics. Characteristic of ISR is to intertwine a mixed method approach (i.e., conducting experimental, quantitative, qualitative, and phenomenological research for the same envisaged application) with conceptual and axiological analysis as required in professional studies in applied ethics; moreover, ISR is value-driven and abides by the “Non-Replacement Principle”: Social robots may only do what humans should but cannot do. We briefly compare ISR to other value-sensitive or value-directed design models, with a view to the task of overcoming the triple gridlock. Finally, working from an advanced classification of pluridiscplinary research, we argue that ISR establishes a research format that can turn social robotics into a new transdiscipline.

KW - Care-centered value-sensitive design

KW - Collingridge dilemma

KW - Design for values

KW - Integrative Social Robotics

KW - Ontology of asymmetric sociality

KW - Participatory design

KW - Responsible robotics

KW - Technomoral change

KW - Transdisciplinarity

KW - Value-sensitive design

KW - ontology of asymmetric sociality

KW - participatory design

KW - responsible robotics

KW - CARE

KW - care-centered value-sensitive design

KW - design for values

KW - transdisciplinarity

KW - ANTHROPOMORPHISM

KW - FRAMEWORK

KW - technomoral change

KW - value-sensitive design

U2 - 10.1075/is.18061.sei

DO - 10.1075/is.18061.sei

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1572-0373

VL - 21

SP - 111

EP - 144

JO - Interaction Studies

JF - Interaction Studies

IS - 1

ER -