dimanche 30 octobre 2022
Dissect - Berlin Science Week
vendredi 21 octobre 2022
Journées Psyphine 2022
dimanche 28 août 2022
Ethnographies of Outer Space
lundi 18 juillet 2022
[AAC] Droles d'objets 2023
- La thématique de la soumission (Conception de l'objet, Expérimentation et observation, Analyse)
- La discipline de l'auteur
- Le type de soumission (Présentation & table ronde, Atelier, Démonstration, Installation, Poster)
- 31 octobre 2022 : Date limite de soumission
- Février 2023 : Notification aux auteurs
mercredi 1 juin 2022
4th Conference of the International Association for Cognitive Semiotics, IACS4
lundi 23 mai 2022
The Three Problems of Robots and AI
jeudi 21 avril 2022
Colloque "Science et spiritualité, entre dialogue et confrontation"
mardi 12 avril 2022
c:o/re Workshop: Interdisciplinary Research in Robotics and AI
vendredi 8 avril 2022
Drôles d’Objets: A New Art of Making
[Reposted from KHK: https://khk.rwth-aachen.de/2022/04/08/2584/2584/]
Robots, autonomous artifacts, connected objects: how can we design and understand these strange objects that renew our interactions with others and the world around us? We are more and more often invited to enter into a relationship with robots or machines, whether for practical (therapeutic, professional, scientific) or playful purposes. This type of relationship is rapidly developing beyond simple functional use, automatic or mechanical action, towards a type of interaction that involves our effort to interpret the behavior of these objects. Why and how are we tempted to interact with unusual objects that ‘come to life’, move and evolve? The study of these objects interests a wide range of fields in science, art and design. I can mention, among others, robotics, AI, art and design, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, language sciences: each field develops its own notions, methods and tools, often in multidisciplinary contexts. What answers can the philosopher bring to the roboticist’s questions? How can psychology feed on the work of anthropology? Can artists contribute to the sociolinguistics of human-machine interactions?
In order to interface views in art, design and scientific practices on both these objects and the interactions they cause, the Psyphine research group joined forces with partners from the University of Lorraine, La Rochelle University and the Zero1 Festival for an interdisciplinary conference called “Drôles d’Objets” held during October 27th – 29th, 2021 in the harbour of La Rochelle [1]. In French, the adjective “drôle” covers a wide range of meanings and can be translated as amusing, entertaining, silly, creepy, surprising, funny, interesting, unusual, thought provoking, etc. The term refers to a complexity of issues which characterizes these curious objects as well as the various ways researchers, artists and designers address them.
The conference gathered more than 35 participants coming from various fields of research, such as computer sciences, robotics, art, design, psychology, management, philosophy, anthropology, linguistics. Organized around four main panels, the conference also devoted an afternoon to showcases, workshops and posters with Antoine Desjardin, Giancarlo Rizza, Dominique Deuff, Marion Voillot, Arnaud Blanchard, Romina Romay, Yann Boniface or Xavier Hinaut. The work of artists in residence Agustín Ramos Anzorena and Fabien Zocco (with his project Spider and I) were also presented during an evening session.
Starting with a session dedicated to conception practices, the conference first addressed questions related to the methods, tools and know-how associated with the design of interactive objects. How do we design an interactive animated object? What are the parameters, characteristics and properties we can play with so that an animated object becomes a “partner”? What are the tools, knowledge and technologies that can be mobilized? The first panel, coordinated by Nicolas Rougier, offered inputs on the diversity of approaches regarding not only the design of objects but also the tools and the methods employed to address conceptualizing from various disciplines. The session featured contributions from Jeanne Lallement and Juliette Passebois on service robots in commercial types of interaction, Mariela Yeregui on her research and creation project “États d’alerte” (State of alert), which illustrates the otherness of machines as a potential threat, Ghiles Mostafaoui on natural and intuitive interaction design in robotics and computer science, and Sylvain Raynal on the autonomy of the subject in his relation to industrial machinism and freedom.
The conference also addressed questions on the observation and the interpretation of results. How can we design an experiment? How can we understand what is happening during an interaction with an animated object? What can we measure, evaluate, and observe? What do we learn from these experiences? How to interpret data from experiments with animated objects? Can we trust the testimony of the subjects? Coordinated by Valeria Giardino, this second panel gathered contributions from Guillaume Nassau, who asked whether a robot is perceived as an interactant or as an object for discussion, and Manuel Rebuschi, who explored questions associated to mental projections and animism using Kendall Walton’s theory of fiction.
I had the pleasure to coordinate the third session, focused on health- and care-related issues. Robotics and computer sciences have entered this field in various ways. A number of projects are, for instance, concerned with the cohabitation of humans and robots. Some aim at replacing humans in work situations. Robots are also used as a new sort of mediation tool for caregivers. However, their therapeutic contribution remains difficult to establish. With contributions from Jean-Pierre Merlet on the conception and the experimentation of assistive robotic objects, Gloria Michiels on the ethnography of humanoid robots in care spaces, Olivier Duris and Charlotte Labossière on the use of robots regarding children suffering from autistic spectrum disorders, and Quentin Dumoulin on the role that fabrication laboratories could play in pedopsychiatry, the panel addressed questions raised by robots and artificial intelligent-based objects. Are they useful tools or rather gadgets? What is their role? Is their aesthetic appearance important? Do they replace the work of caregivers or are they rather a new tool in the therapeutic process?
Finally, the last session coordinated by Virgine André addressed experiences conducted on telepresence, interactive systems and virtual reality. Gathering researchers mainly working in the field of language and education sciences, the panel explored the effects of telepresence oriented technologies on social interaction. Maud Ciekanski and Virginie Privas-Breauté presented the results of a comparative study of immersive technologies for language learning. Jean-François Grassin showed how telepresence robots modify attention processes during a meeting. Joséphine Rémon, Christelle Combe and Amélie Bouquain, presented an experimentation on telepresence robots conducted within the project “présence numérique” (digital presence). Caroline Vincent, Christine Develotte, Mabrouka El Hachani and Justine Lascar addressed the methodology for studying interactions in mixed groups using telepresence robots.
The conference concluded with an intervention by anthropologist Denis Vidal and neuroscientist Frédéric Alexandre who aimed to put into perspective the work conducted during the week for a larger audience. The recording of their intervention, which is in French, can be viewed on the website of the University of Lorraine: https://podcast.univ-lorraine.fr
This interdisciplinary conference showed the necessity of crossing the viewpoints of different disciplines when it comes to the design of interactive robotic systems. It showed that despite the differences, only a transversal approach involving engineering sciences, humanities and social sciences, artists and users can address the major issues that these “drôles d’objets” pose to our societies.
[1] The proceedings of the conference can be found here.
Käte Hamburger Kolleg (c:o/re) - Lecture Series
Social Anthropologist Joffrey Becker, Fellow at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research (c:o/re) at RWTH Aachen University and Research Associate at Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Sociale at the Collège de France, talks about human-machine interactions and social changes associated to the design of intelligent systems. This talk was part of the Lecture Series „Digitalization of Research” at c:o/re.
mercredi 23 mars 2022
Ciné Campagn'art - Rogery
Séverine Lagneaux et moi revenons demain sur les lieux de notre film Routines dans le cadre du ciné Campagn'art.
ROUTINES
Réalisation : Séverine Lagneaux et Joffrey Becker
Production : Jean-Frédéric de Hasque
Montage : Bruno Tracq
Durée : 36 minutes
Filmé en Belgique dans un élevage laitier de la Région wallonne, Routines décrit le quotidien de l’exploitation et les reconfigurations liées à sa robotisation. En adoptant le point de vue des acteurs humains, animaux ou mécaniques, le film explore la façon dont la robotique et l’informatique transforment les interactions et les pratiques domesticatoires.
Rien à voir, CNRS, Fondation Fyssen / 2022
lundi 7 mars 2022
Royal Anthropological Institute - Virtual Conference
Anthropology, AI and the Future of Human Society
6 -10 June 2022
*
P14 - Controlled Environment Facilities and the Visualisation of Future Human Society
Convenors: Elie Danziger (Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Sociale [Collège de France - PSL, CNRS, EHESS]), Perig Pitrou (CNRS - PSL) & Teresa Castro (Sorbonne Nouvelle)
https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/rai2022/p/11152
*
Living in a Loop
A Visual Ethnography of Routines in a Robotic Dairy Farm
Joffrey Becker (RWTH Aachen University)
Severine Lagneaux (CRA-W [Belgique])
Robotic dairy farms constitute a special kind of controlled ecosystem. They form a space where relations between humans and animals combine with the activity of computer systems and robots in what appear to be a complete redistribution of relations in an adapted and a digitalised infrastructure. Do such hybrid systems raise new issues regarding the routines which characterize the activities in the barn? What new socio-technical arrangements are emerging from robotics and computer science practices?
Based on film, our ethnography shows that while robotic milking is a further step in the rationalization of milk production processes, the integration of robots, sensors to acquire data, and computer systems to process them introduces changes in the relation between the farmer and his herd. These systems therefore imply new arrangements between humans, animals and machines, which consist of a new method to achieve an optimized level of performance. Questioning the impact that socio-material organisation can have on activities in a community composed of humans, technical devices and non-humans, our ethnographic study resulted in a documentary film called Routines.
Taking place in a Belgian dairy farm of the Walloon region, Routines describes the daily life of the farm and the reconfigurations linked to its robotisation. By adopting the point of view of human, animal or mechanical actors, the film addresses the way in which robotics and computer technology contribute to transform not only the work activities but also the interactions and practices of domestication.
Ph.D Course - New technologies and the future of the human
*
New ways of being human and social
The course is dedicated to an investigation of the imaginary projects of technoscience, in which new ways of being human and new ways of being social are being developed. This is going to be an exploratory course, mobilizing what we think we know about the human being into thinking and speculating about what the future might bring. In this effort the lecturers and students together will equally be searching for possible entries into an understanding.
Technological innovation in human-computer interfaces, medical breakthroughs in nano- and biotechnology, infrastructural transformations of urban orders, algorithmic government, new technologies to intervene in anthropogenic climate change, all seriously challenge established understandings of the human being and its environment.
Moral, existential and ontological questions
What will be the nature of the human being in the future? What are the potentials of new genetics? Of cloning? Can AI develop human qualities? What happens to social relations when we are primarily living in digital, virtual spaces? What social status do robots, avatar and digital selves acquire? What is the future of cities when scientists predict radical life-threatening climate disasters, and even their extinction? And, what do the new technologies of surveillance, climate regulations and "greening" policies entail for the institutional frames for human life?
In the age of technoscience, the very idea of what a human being is, has come to be fundamentally challenged: in new human-machine interfaces, in human enhancements technologies, in synthetic biology and genetic engineering, as well as new nature/culture relationships. Active transhumanist movements work for ideological and political backing for the investments in science that can bring about a new and potentially enhanced and even immortal human form. The idea of a future where humans live in space are not only the fantasies of California billionaires like Elon Musk, or sci-fi movies, but has become imaginative grounds for social movements, especially in the U.S. and Russia but also across the globe.
Lecturers: Joffrey Becker (KHK c:o/re, RWTH Aachen University), Anya Bernstein (Harvard University), Bjørn Enge Bertelsen (UiB), Kerry Chance (UiB), Annelin Eriksen (UiB), Alexandre Mazel (R3S, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital & Sorbonne University, Paris), Alexandre Pitti (Laboratoire ETIS, CY Cergy Paris Université, ENSEA, CNRS), Knut Rio (UiB)
Information and program: https://www.uib.no/en/course/SANT906
mardi 1 février 2022
Workshop - Explainable AI and explanations in AI
One important challenge in machine learning is the “black box” problem, in which an artificial intelligence reaches a result without any humans being able to explain why. This problem is typically present in deep artificial neural networks, in which the hidden layers are impenetrable. To tackle this problem, researchers have introduced the no- tion of explainable AI (XAI), artificial intelligence the results of which can be understood by humans. The XAI position is usually characterised in terms of three properties: transparency, interpretability, and explainability. While the first two have standard def- initions, explainability is not understood in a uniform manner. What does explainability mean? What kind of AI is explainable? Can there be properly explainable machine learning systems? In this workshop, we discuss a variety of approaches to these topics in connection to fundamental questions in artificial intelligence. What are explanations in AI? What do AI systems explain and how? How does AI explanation relate to the topics of human understanding and intelligence?
Confirmed speakers are: Jobst Landgrebe (Cognotekt Köln), Markus Pantsar (University of Helsinki, c:o/re), Frederik Stjernfelt (Aalborg University Copenhagen, c:o/re), Gabriele Gramelsberger (c:o/re Aachen), Ana L. C. Bazzan (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, c:o/re Aachen), Joffrey Becker (Laboratoire d‘Anthropologie Sociale, c:o/re Aachen), Daniel Wenz (CSS Lab RWTH Aachen), and Andreas Kaminski (High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart).
Information and Program: https://khk.rwth-aachen.de/2022/01/27/2281/explainable-ai-explanations-in-ai/
lundi 24 janvier 2022
ROUTINES — a film by Séverine Lagneaux & Joffrey Becker
Routines
a film by Joffrey Becker & Séverine Lagneaux
Filmé en Belgique dans un élevage laitier de la Région wallonne, Routines décrit le quotidien de l’exploitation et les reconfigurations liées à sa robotisation. En adoptant le point de vue des acteurs humains, animaux ou mécaniques, le film explore la façon dont la robotique et l’informatique transforment les interactions et les pratiques domesticatoires.
Filmed in Belgium in a dairying farm in the Walloon region, Routines describes the daily life of the farm and the reconfigurations linked to its robotisation. By adopting the point of view of human, animal or mechanical actors, the film explores the way in which robotics and computer technology transform interactions and domestic practices.
produced by Rien à Voir, CNRS, Fyssen Fund
2022 — documentary — 36 minutes
directors — S. Lagneaux & J. Becker
camera — S. Lagneaux & J. Becker
sound — S. Lagneaux & J. Becker
producer — JF de Hasque
editor — B. Tracq