Michael Szollosy
Papers
11
Total Citations
164
H-Index
7
About
Michael Szollosy is a leading voice at the intersection of psychoanalysis, cultural studies, and robotics. His research explores why we fear robots, arguing that our cultural projections—rooted in anxieties about creation and control—cast machines as modern monsters. In his highly cited work "Freud, Frankenstein and our fear of robots" (62 citations), Szollosy traces this phenomenon from Mary Shelley to today’s media, revealing how our collective unconscious shapes technological perception. He has also made significant contributions to human-robot interaction, particularly with children, investigating how young users perceive animacy in humanoid robots (33 citations) and how age influences their questioning strategies. A key figure in robotics ethics, Szollosy co-edited the influential *Connection Science* special issue on ethical principles of robotics (10 citations) and critically assessed the EPSRC Principles of Robotics, arguing they failed to adequately define what it means to be human. His work challenges us to reconceptualize the relationship between humans, robots, and AI, urging a more nuanced understanding that moves beyond fear and toward symbiotic coexistence.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2You Made Him Be Alive: Children’s Perceptions of Animacy in a Humanoid Robot33 citations · 2017
- 3
- 4Ethical principles of robotics10 citations · 2017
- 5EPSRC Principles of Robotics: defending an obsolete human(ism)?10 citations · 2017
- 6
- 7Towards a Wearable Interface for Immersive Telepresence in Robotics8 citations · 2017
- 8
- 9
- 10Shifting the Goalposts: Reconceptualizing Robots, AI, and Humans4 citations · 2021