Image: Joe Shlabotnik
AISB20 will now take place over three days: 7, 8, and 9 April 2021 (times below are BST).
n.b. Abbreviations refer to individual symposia, which are listed below the table.
| Weds 7 April | Thurs 8 April | Fri 9 April | |
| 12:45-13:00 | opening remarks | opening remarks | opening remarks |
| 13:00-13:50 | Anthro2020 AIML AI&G AIRoNoS | Opacity PhAI2020 R&R | CC20 DoRoTa R&R day 2 |
| 13:50-14:00 | break | break | break |
| 14:00-14:50 | Anthro2020 AIML AI&G AIRoNoS | Opacity PhAI2020 R&R | CC20 DoRoTa R&R day 2 |
| 14:50-15:00 | break | break | break |
| 15:00-15:50 | Anthro2020 AIML AI&G AIRoNoS | Opacity PhAI2020 R&R | CC20 DoRoTa R&R day 2 |
| 15:50-16:00 | break | break | break |
| 16:00-16:50 | Anthro2020 AIML AI&G AIRoNoS | Opacity PhAI2020 R&R | CC20 DoRoTa R&R day 2 |
| 16:50-17:00 | break | break | break |
| 17:00-18:00 | Plenary talk: Prof Sophie Scott | Plenary talk: Prof Peter Robinson | Plenary talk: Dr Sabine Hauert |
Links to symposia
11th AISB Symposium on AI & Games (AI&G)
7th Computational creativity symposium (CC20)
Do Robots Talk? Philosophical Implications of Describing Human-Machine Communication (DoRoTa)
The Impact of Anthropomorphism on Human Understanding of Intelligent Systems (Anthro2020)
Philosophy after AI: meaning and understanding (PhAI2020)
Overcoming Opacity in Machine Learning (Opacity)
Representation and Reality In Humans, Other Living Organisms and Machines (R&R)
Plenary talks
Date: Wednesday 7 April
Speaker: Prof Sophie Scott, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL
Title: The science of laughter
Abstract: In this talk I will explore the evolutionary history of laughter, it’s role as an emotional expression and its use in communication and emotion regulation. I will address the neural basis of laughter perception and production, and explore aspects of its acoustics and how this relates to the ways it is produced. Laughter is an emotional expression, but we use to express far more than just a sense of amusement: laughter is a social emotion and its more complex roles seem to relate to its social use.
About the speaker: Professor Sophie Scott is a cognitive neuroscientist, interested in the neurobiology of human vocal behaviour with an emphasis on speech, voice and laughter. She is also the Director of UCL’s Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience.
Date: Thursday 8 April
Speaker: Prof Peter Robinson, University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
Title: Computation of emotions
Abstract: The importance of emotional expression as part of human communication has been understood since the seventeenth century, and has been explored scientifically since Charles Darwin and others in the nineteenth century. Recent advances in Psychology have greatly improved our understanding of the role of affect in communication, perception, decision-making, attention and memory. At the same time, advances in technology mean that it is becoming possible for machines to sense, analyse and express emotions. We can now consider how these advances relate to each other and how they can be brought together to influence future research in perception, attention, learning, memory, communication, decision-making and other applications.
This talk will survey recent advances in theories of emotion and affect, their embodiment in computational systems, the implications for general communications, and broader applications. The combination of new results in psychology with new techniques of computation on new technologies will enable new applications in commerce, education, entertainment, security, therapy and everyday life. However, there are important issues of privacy and personal expression that must also be considered.
About the speaker: Peter Robinson is Professor of Computer Technology in the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge in England, where he leads work on computer graphics and interaction. Professor Robinson’s research concerns problems at the boundary between people and computers. This involves investigating new technologies to enhance communication between computers and their users, and new applications to exploit these technologies. The main focus for this is human-computer interaction, where he has been leading work for some years on the use of video and paper as part of the user interface. With rapid advances in key computing technologies and the heightened user expectation of computers, the development of socially and emotionally adept technologies is becoming a necessity. He has led investigations of the inference of people’s mental states from facial expressions, vocal nuances, body posture and gesture, and other physiological signals, and also considered the expression of emotions by robots and cartoon avatars.
Date: Friday 9 April
Speaker: Dr Sabine Hauert, Department of Engineering Mathematics, Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol
Title: TBC
Abstract: TBC
About the speaker: Dr Sabine Hauert is Assistant Professor in Robotics at the University of Bristol.
