Suggested readings
Step into the fascinating world of chatbots and robots with these suggested readings. Dive into these captivating stories and studies to explore the blurred lines between humans and machines.
Unmasking Chatbots: The Human Side of AI-Powered Conversations
Be careful before you talk about chatbots as “AI-powered”. There can also be a substantial human component behind what a chatbot says. Read Laura Preston’s story about what it was ike to work as a chatbot that pretended it was human.
Exploring the Robotic Experience: A Journey with Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun
What is it like to be a robot? The obvious reading recommendation for this is of course Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun.
Shifting the Focus: Understanding the Employee Perspective in Human-Robot Interactions
Most studies about robots interacting with humans focus on the robot-user dyad. Yet,employees can be affected by what is happening in this dyad. Phillips et al. (2023) is an attempt to broaden the perspective.
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JOSM-03-2022-0091/full/html
Developing a Test to Distinguish Humans from Non-Humans: The Humanness Sensitivity Challenge
There will be situations in which we need to distinguish between humans and non-humans. One way to approach this is to say that we need to use our ability to recognize uniquely human characteristic: we need a test for our humanness sensitivity. Robert Epstein and his colleagues have developed a test for this. And they found that many people were not so good at this.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00146-022-01398-y
Call for Pause on Advanced AI Training: Assessing the Risks to Society
Many have reacted to the open letter from researchers who argue that AI labs should immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4. The reason, they say, is that AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity. Read the letter and see if you agree.
https://futureoflife.org/open-letter/pause-giant-ai-experiments/
Robotic Obedience: Study Reveals Disturbing Human Behavior
Would you obey if a robot asked you to harm another human? The result of a study by Tomas Grzyb and his colleagues is that most of us would obey. So, we would indeed act as many others did in Stanley Milgram’s famous obedience studies.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949882123000105