Call for Participation
Social Robots: The Social Potential of a New Communicative Agent
Free Online Conference – Organized as part of UAI’s Social Media Conference 2020
Tuesday 17th November, 9 AM EDT / 10 AM Chile / 14 PM CET
To receive the Zoom link: https://lnkd.in/et3wNu7
Digital emergent technologies -from social media, apps and artificial intelligence- bring up new possibilities for communication. At the same time, they question paradigms and concepts which make us rethink our forms of imagining and inhabiting the world. Social robots and artificial intelligence emerge as new communicative agents, which open up new possibilities and challenges in different areas, such as education, the labour market and mental health.
Through academic presentations in an online format -given the global sanitary contingency- three international keynotes will present about the social potential of social robots from a Communication Science perspective. What is a social robot? What are some of our choices in our interactions and perceptions with them? How can social robots be used in education? What is social robots’ potential as a new communicative agent and how can we approximate this new phenomenon best? Which are some of the troubles and experiences researching social robots? Our three international speakers will address these questions during our online conference, followed by a Q&A.
Sign up here to receive the Zoom link in due time: https://lnkd.in/et3wNu7
If you have any questions, please contact host Carmina Rodriguez-Hidalgo at carmina.rodriguez@uai.cl.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:
Jochen Peter, University of Amsterdam
Jochen Peter (Ph.D., 2003, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands) is a Full Professor in the Amsterdam School of Communication Research, ASCoR, at the University of Amsterdam. From 2013 to 2018, he was the Scientific Director of ASCoR. In 2009, the International Communication Association (ICA), the largest international academic association for the study of communication, awarded Jochen its Young Scholar Award for outstanding early career research. In 2019, he was named Fellow of the ICA in ‘recognition of contributions to the study of human and mediated communication.’ He received a competitive Veni as well as a Vidi grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). From the European Research Council (ERC), he has been awarded a Consolidator Grant to study social robots and children. His research has received numerous awards from national and international scientific organizations. Jochen has published more than 100 journal articles and book chapters. His research focuses generally on how young people’s use of new communication technologies affects their psycho-social development. In his earlier research, Jochen investigated the impact of online communication on teenagers’ sociality. He also studied whether sexually explicit material on the internet is related to adolescents’ sexual attitudes and behavior. In his more recent research, he specifically deals with the antecedents and consequences of children’s interaction with social robots.
Autumn Edwards, Western Michigan University
Dr. Autumn P. Edwards is a professor in the School of Communication at Western Michigan University. Her scholarly interests include interpersonal communication and communication theory, in both face-to-face and computer-mediated contexts. Her research focuses on the influence of individuals’ personal theories of communication on aspects of community life, relational health and personal wellbeing. In addition, her recent scholarship has examined the influence of online message behavior on interpersonal impressions. Edwards is the author of the introductory communication textbook, The Communication Age (Sage; with Chad Edwards, Shawn Wahl and Scott Myers). She is also the recipient of an Outstanding Teaching Award and the Kim Giffin Research Award from the University of Kansas and was designated a Claude Kantner Research Fellow at Ohio University. She also a recipient of WMU’s 2014 Distinguished Teacher Award.
Chad Edwards, Western Michigan University
Dr. Chad Edwards is a professor of communication in the School of Communication at Western Michigan University. Previously, he was a Hartel Fellow at Marietta College. Edwards’ research interests include human-machine communication, human-robot interaction, and artificial intelligence. Dr. Edwards co-directs the Communication and Social Robotics Labs (www.combotlabs.org). He is a co-author on a Sage textbook entitled, Life in the Communication Age: Connecting and Engaging (2013/2016/2019). Dr. Edwards has received several top paper awards for his research. He serves on numerous editorial boards including Communication Education. Dr. Edwards has held offices at both national and regional communication conferences and is a Past-President and Executive Director of the Central States Communication Association. In 2009, Dr. Edwards received the WMU Distinguished Teaching Award (the highest teaching award given by WMU). He also has been awarded teaching awards from the WMU College of Arts and Sciences, University of Kansas, and Texas Tech University.
We hope to see you there!
Kind regards,
Carmina
Carmina Rodríguez Hidalgo, PhD, MSc.
Assistant professor
School of Communications and Journalism
Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez – UAI
Campus Viña del Mar