Social Robots and Data Privacy

Publication

With the advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, and affective computing, the relationship between robots and humans in society is changing. Are we ready to include robots in our lives and societies? Experts perceive technology to be moving faster than the required ethical discussions and adaptions of legal policy. Embedded in an exciting crime story, the science comic provides insight into current developments in the field of social robots and fuels a much-needed public debate.

Social Robots – The Story

In the framework of an AGYA research project, a prototype of a social robot has been designed. Shortly before the initiation of the first large field study for the use of social robots in elderly care in Kuwait, the designed prototype mysteriously disappeared from the research lab in Germany. In an exciting search for the missing robot, many questions arise:
 

• What are social robots and how can they be used?
   
• How can social robots be used in elderly care?
   
• Do social robots endanger jobs?
   
• Does the perception and acceptance of social robots vary in different societies?
   
• What are the ethical implications to introduce social robots in society?

It goes without saying that ethical discussions related to questions of dignity and empathy need to accompany this fast developing technology. Embedded in an exciting crime story, the science comic provides insight into current developments in the field of social robots and fuels a much-needed public debate.
The story takes place in the near future. The first social robots to be deployed in the health care sector are being tested. In a research lab in Germany, a nursing robot prototype destined for the elderly care in Kuwait is being developed. Suddenly, the robot disappears without a trace. Oliver Korn, AGYA member and director of the lab, and his team are devastated. For Kira, the young and ambitious inspector, it is the first case in her career. In the course of her investigations, she learns a lot about social robots, artificial intelligence and the world of international scientific cooperation. One question crystallizes: Does the perpetrator come from the ranks of the scientists?

The 72-page comic is published in DIN A4 portrait format. It is available free of charge in German and English. It is also available in print for a nominal fee. Please visit the ACI Website for further information. Enjoy the reading!