Opacity versus Computational Reflection Modelling Human-Robot Interaction in Personal Service Robotics

Abstract

The modeling of human-machine interaction (HCI) has an enormous impact on the shaping of our everyday life and the usage of so-called interactive technology. Surprisingly, human-machine models are still a widely underdeveloped subject in science and technology studies, technology assessment but also robotics and computer science. In this paper, epistemological and ontological foundations of social robotics and especially human-robot interaction (HRI) are analyzed. These foundations were developed primarily in the 1990s but are still the basics of today’s research. Theoretical assumptions and practical consequences of the redistribution of agency, visibility, autonomy and accountability are explored. The consequences of new models of the human-machine interaction as caregiver/infant or partnership relations are scrutinized. In the face of the growing opacity of the human-robot interface and the camouflage of human agency, I will propose a more reflexive and thereby user-friendly approach for human-robot interaction.