Time: Friday, May 19, 2023, 14:00-16:00

Location: Lecture Hall 417, Building 3, Hainayuan, Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang Universit

Developmental Cybernetics: From Psychology to Robotics

Speaker: Itakura Shoji

Professor, Doshisha University, Japan

Dr. Itakura Shoji holds a Ph.D. in Science from Kyoto University and is currently a Professor at Doshisha University, Japan. He serves as the Director of the Baby Science Center and is a Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University. His main research areas include early social cognition, theory of mind and mental development, lying and moral development, as well as intelligent robotics development. His representative work has been published in leading psychology journals such as Developmental Psychology, Developmental Science, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, Cognition, and Computers in Human Behavior.

Abstract

The environment surrounding us has changed dramatically. Robots and AI, in particular, are becoming a major trend. The environment surrounding children is no exception. Research has already begun on robots that can assist in child-rearing. The time has come for robots to enter our homes and for us to use them in a variety of situations. In this environment, what kind of robots should we present to our children? This is a very important question that we should consider for the future.

In this presentation, I will introduce some of my original research on robot recognition in infants. First, I will introduce the concept of Developmental Cybernetics, followed by actual experiments. I will report on the positioning of robots by infants, the comparison of robots and humans in body perception, the conditions of intentionality for robots, the theory of mind, in a robot and a brief overview of our recent work. Finally, I will present a hypothesis to explain the uncanny valley.