AI 2018 - AI, robots and public engagement

A great deal of attention has been paid in recent years to the question of ethics and responsible innovation in researching artificial intelligence and robotics. A key aspect of this has been improved attempts to create a full and frank dialogue between those who build these systems and that nefarious entity known as ‘the public’: the policy-makers, politicians, legal experts, and the rest of the ‘stakeholders’. Despite improved efforts, however, most of the public seems to remain largely misinformed as to the development of robotics and AI, causing some wild expectations, unfounded optimism, and fears, both founded and unfounded, that will have dramatic impacts upon research. So while there seems to be a (near) universal acknowledgement that there is a need to engage with the public in our research, it seems that this is something that we can still do much better than we presently are.
This symposium will bring together researchers, those with expertise in public engagement and those with a specific interest in helping guide conversations on robots and AI in terms of ethics, responsible research and the social impacts of new research. This may also include experts public engagement offering workshops in how to organise events, how to talk to the public and specific stakeholder groups, and how best to make meaningful impacts (e.g. on policy).