Join us for a fascinating panel discussion around our relationship with technology.

A robot walks into a bar, orders a drink, and lays down some cash.
Bartender says, “Hey, we don’t serve robots.”
And the robot says, “Oh, but someday you will.”

Cue (very) slight snigger … and whole lot of apprehension. Because we love our robot vacuums, but maybe still harbour a faint niggling suspicion that they’re one cleaning cycle away from evolving into Skynet and taking over.

Enter “Will robots …” into Google, and the top search is “… take my job” (followed by “… take over the world”, “… replace humans”, “… rule the world in future” – you get the picture).

Then there’s the flip side: sometimes we’re so busy gawking at the dancing humanoid robots that we forget the first industrial robots were actually created in the 1950s, and robotics itself is far from a new or alien concept.

The irony is, most conversations around robotics are strongly coloured by emotion – can we balance this with fact-driven rationality and reassurance?

The fact is that robotics, AI and technology in general will evolve and drive forward no matter what – if we don’t get informed, involved, and empowered, we lose the chance to influence this evolution.

This panel discussion features Dr Damith Herath, Stelarc, Nicci Rossouw and Dr Bruce Baer Arnold, with moderator Adam Shirley.

University of Canberra (UC) Associate Professor, Dr Damith Herath, leads multidisciplinary robotic research projects and is the co-and founding chair of the International Workshop on Robotics & Art. “Art influences my work as a roboticist.”
Damith is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur and a roboticist with extensive experience leading complex robotic integration, industrial and research projects for over two decades.

Stelarc is a performance artist who has visually probed and acoustically amplified his body. He has made three films of the inside of his body. He has used medical instruments, prosthetics, robotics, Virtual Reality systems, the Internet and biotechnology to engineer intimate and involuntary interfaces with the body. He explores Alternate Anatomical Architectures with augmented and extended body constructs.

Dr Bruce Baer Arnold is an Associate Professor in the School of Law at the University of Canberra. He has a strong interest in data protection, artificial intelligence and robotics, intellectual property and health sector regulation. Recent publications include chapters and articles on whether AI can be a legal person, uplifting human consciousness to the Cloud and a book on the Animal Crossing virtual world.

Nicci Rossouw is the CEO of Robotics Australia Group, a not for profit organisation.  Robotics Australia Group is the peak body for robotics which informs, connects and advocates on behalf of the robotics community in Australia. Prior to her role at RAG, she was the founder and CEO of Exaptec, a robotics company based in Melbourne, specialising in telepresence, social and educational robots.  She also hosts the podcast, “Let’s talk robotics”,  which celebrates the robotics and AI community in Australia, occasionally venturing further abroad. 

Adam Shirley is the host of Canberra Breakfast on ABC radio. He is a scientist by trade, passionate about education and journalism.

Presented by the University of Canberra.