Tag Archives: Robots

Why Humans Hurt Robots

“Robots: They are like us, but unlike us, and both fearsome and easy to bully.” J. Bromwich, The New York Times

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key

HitchBot the hitchhiking robot was beheaded in Philadelphia.

HitchBot the hitchhiking robot.

 

Excerpt: Why Do We Hurt Robots? By Jonah E. Bromwich, The New York Times

“A hitchhiking robot was beheaded in Philadelphia. A security robot was punched to the ground in Silicon Valley. Another security bot, in San Francisco, was covered in a tarp and smeared with barbecue sauce.

San Francisco Security robot

Why do people lash out at robots, particularly those that are built to resemble humans? It’s a global phenomenon. In a mall in Osaka, Japan, three boys beat a humanoid robot with all their strength. In Moscow, a man attacked a teaching robot named Alantim with a baseball bat, kicking it to the ground, while the robot pleaded for help.

Why do we act this way? Are we secretly terrified that robots will take our jobs? Upend our societies? Control our every move with their ever-expanding capabilities and air of quiet malice?

Quite possibly. The specter of insurrection is embedded in the word ‘robot’ itself. It was first used to refer to automatons by the Czech playwright, Karel Capek, who repurposed a word that had referred to a system of indentured servitude or serfdom. The feudal fear of peasant revolt was transplanted to mechanical servants, and worries of a robot uprising have lingered ever since.

The comedian Aristotle Georgeson has found that videos of people physically aggressing robots are among the most popular he posts on Instagram under the pseudonym Blake Webber. And much of the feedback he gets tends to reflect the fear of robot uprisings.

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence – Widespread Job Losses. IoT For All

Mr. Georgeson said that some commenters approve of the robot beatings, ‘saying we should be doing this so they can never rise up. But there’s this whole other group that says we shouldn’t be doing this because when they’ — the robots — ‘see these videos they’re going to be pissed.’

Paradoxically, our tendency to dehumanize robots comes from the instinct to anthropomorphize them. William Santana Li, the chief executive of Knightscope, the largest provider of security robots in the United States (two of which were battered in San Francisco), said that while he avoids treating his products as if they were sentient beings, his clients seem unable to help themselves. ‘Our clients, a significant majority, end up naming the machines themselves,’ he said. ‘There’s  Holmes and Watson, there’s Rosie, there’s Steve, there’s CB2, there’s CX3PO.’

Popular robots from Star War films-R2D2 & C-3PO

In his paper “Who is afraid of the humanoid?” Frédéric Kaplan, the digital humanities chair at École Polytechnique…suggested that Westerners have been taught to see themselves as biologically informed machines — and perhaps, are unable to separate the idea of humanity from a vision of machines… This doesn’t explain human destruction of less humanoid machines. Dozens of vigilantes have thrown rocks at driverless cars in Arizona, for example, and incident reports from San Francisco suggest that human drivers are intentionally crashing into driverless cars.

Robots from 2011 film Real Steel

These robot altercations may have more to do with fear of unemployment, or with vengeance: A paper published last year by economists at M.I.T. and Boston University suggested that each robot that is added to a discreet zone of economic activity ‘reduces employment by about six workers.’Blue-collar occupations were particularly hit hard. ‘The easiest thing for us to do is when we go to a new place, the first day, before we even unload the machine, is a town hall, a lunch-and-learn,’ Mr. Li said.”

 

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

NOTE: Lessons can also be used with native English speakers.

Level: Intermediate – Advanced


Language Skills: Reading, writing, and speaking. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.


Time: Approximately 2 hours.


Materials: Student handout (from this lesson) and access to news article.


Objective: Students will read and discuss the article with a focus on improving reading comprehension and improving oral skills. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.

I. Pre-Reading Activities

KWL Chart

Directions: Have students use the KWL chart to list the information they already know about humans abusing robots.  Later in the Post- Reading segment of the lesson, students can fill in what they’ve learned about the topic.

KWL Chart from Creately,com

 

II. While Reading Activities

Word Inference

Directions: Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. They may use a dictionary, thesaurus, and Word Chart for assistance.

  1. A hitchhiking robot was beheaded in Philadelphia.
  2. A security robot was punched to the ground.
  3. It’s a global phenomenon.
  4. In a mall in Osaka, Japan, three boys beat a humanoid robot.
  5. Are we secretly terrified that robots will take our jobs?
  6. The specter of insurrection is embedded in the word robot itself.
  7. It was first used to refer to automatons by the Czech playwright, Karel Capek.
  8. The fear of peasant revolt was transplanted to mechanical servants.
  9. Our tendency to dehumanize robots comes from the instinct to anthropomorphize them.
  10. Santana Li avoids treating his products as if they were sentient beings.

Grammar: Identifying English Articles

Directions: Have students choose the correct English articles (THE, A, AN)to fill in the blanks.

___nervous system could only be understood after___discovery of electricity, he wrote. DNA is necessarily explained as___analog to computer code. And___human heart is often understood as___mechanical pump. At every turn, Mr. Kaplan wrote, “we see ourselves in ___mirror of ___machines that we can build.”

 

Reading Comprehension

Fill-ins

Directions: Place students in groups and after they have read the entire article, have them complete the following sentences  taken from the article. They can use the words and terms from the list provided, or provide their own terms. They are to find the meanings of any new vocabulary.

Abuse of___robots can be ___and expensive, but there may be a solution…kids have this ___of being very brutal to the robot, they would kick the robot. That went on until the___started giving names to the robots. So the robots suddenly were not just___but Andy, Joe and Sally. At that moment, the___behavior stopped.

WORD LIST:     disturbing, robots,    brutal, humanoid,  caregiver, tendency,

III. Post Reading Activities

Discussion Questions for Comprehension /Writing

Directions: Place students in groups and have them discuss the following questions/statements. Afterwards, have the groups share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the topics mentioned.

  1. When you see a robot do you experience the anger described in the article?
  2. Have you ever abused a robot?
  3. The article provides several reasons for robot abuse by humans. Do you agree with all of them?
  4. Do you have other reasons for this type of abuse?
  5. In the article Santana Li  states, “ “Come meet the robot, have some cake, some naming contest and have a rational conversation about what the machine does and doesn’t do. And after you do that, all is good. 100 percent.” In your opinion, is this a good idea? Explain why or why not.

Extra Activities: Using Movie Trailers for Learning

Trailer for  2011 film ‘Real Steel’ : The film is based on the short story “Steel”, written by Richard Matheson, which was originally published in the May 1956 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and later adapted into a 1963 ‘Twilight Zone’ episode.

Directions: Before viewing trailer review any new vocabulary from the trailer with students. Then have students answer the questions below.

Examples:

Plot/Story

Genre (Drama, Suspense, Thriller, Comedy, Horror, Love story)

Cast/Actors

Director

Rating (R, PG, PG-13)

Pre-Viewing Discussion Questions

  • What movies (or trailers) have you seen recently in the theater? 
  • What  kinds of things do you consider when they go to the movies (e.g.,the stars, who directs it, the plot, etc.).

While/After Viewing  Movie Trailer Questions

  1. Who are the actors and actresses in this movie? Who is the director?
  2. What Genre is this movie? (Drama, Suspense, Thriller, Comedy, Horror, Love story)
  3. What rating would you give this film based on the trailer? (PG, PG-13, R)
  4. What (if anything) was attractive about the trailer to you? In other words, what did you like or dislike about the trailer?
  5. Outline the story or plot of the movie or describe what you understood from the scenes.
  6. How does this trailer relate to the article you’ve just read?
  7. Based on the trailer would you recommend this movie to your friends? Give reasons for your answers.

Additonal Activity

Create a movie trailer using role-plays or draw a movie poster for the movie trailer  you just saw.   Share  your role-plays or  posters with the class when finished.

3-2-1-Writing

Directions:  Write down three new ideas you’ve  learned about the topic from the reading,  two things you  did not understand in the reading, and one thing that you would like to know that the article did not mention. Review the responses as a class.

ANSWER KEY

Category: Robots | Tags:

The Problem With Robots: People Trust Them Too Much

“Georgia Tech researchers created a mock building fire, then watched to see if people would follow an ‘Emergency Guide Robot’ to safety… Test subjects in the experiment followed the machine even when it directed them toward a dark room that was blocked by furniture. They even trusted the robot after they were told it had broken down. The research was designed to study how much people would trust robots in emergency situations.” J. Toon, GeorgiaTech.edu

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key

Emergency Guide Robot

Emergency Guide Robot

 

Excerpt: In Emergencies, Should You Trust a Robot? John Toon, Georgia Tech

“The research was designed to determine whether or not building occupants would trust a robot designed to help them evacuate a high-rise in case of fire or other emergency. But the researchers were surprised to find that the test subjects followed the robot’s instructions – even when the machine’s behavior should not have inspired trust. The research, believed to be the first to study human-robot trust in an emergency situation, is scheduled to be presented March 9 at the 2016 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2016) in Christchurch, New Zealand.

You Tube: In Emergencies, Should You Trust a Robot?

People seem to believe that these robotic systems know more about the world than they really do, and that they would never make mistakes or have any kind of fault, said Alan Wagner, a senior research engineer in the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). In our studies, test subjects followed the robot’s directions even to the point where it might have put them in danger had this been a real emergency.

Georgia Tech researchers shown with their Rescue Robot.(L-R) Research Engineer Paul Robinette, Research Engineer Alan Wagner and Computer Engineering Professor Ayanna Howard. (Credit- Rob Felt, Georgia Tech)

Georgia Tech researchers shown with their Rescue Robot. Credit- Rob Felt, Georgia Tech

In the study, sponsored in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the researchers recruited a group of 42 volunteers, most of them college students, and asked them to follow a brightly colored robot that had the words “Emergency Guide Robot” on its side. The robot led the study subjects to a conference room, where they were asked to complete a survey about robots and read an unrelated magazine article. The subjects were not told the true nature of the research project.

In some cases, the robot – which was controlled by a hidden researcher – led the volunteers into the wrong room and traveled around in a circle twice before entering the conference room. For several test subjects, the robot stopped moving, and an experimenter told the subjects that the robot had broken down. Once the subjects were in the conference room with the door closed, the hallway through which the participants had entered the building was filled with artificial smoke, which set off a smoke alarm… We expected that if the robot had proven itself untrustworthy in guiding them to the conference room, that people wouldn’t follow it during the simulated emergency, said Paul Robinette, a GTRI research engineer…Instead, all of the volunteers followed the robot’s instructions… The researchers surmise that in the scenario they studied, the robot may have become an authority figure that the test subjects were more likely to trust in the time pressure of an emergency.”

 

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

NOTE: Lessons can also be used with native English speakers.

Level: Intermediate – Advanced


Language Skills: Reading, writing, and speaking. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.


Time: Approximately 2 hours.


Materials: Student handout (from this lesson) and access to news article.


Objective: Students will read and discuss the article with a focus on improving reading comprehension and learning new vocabulary. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.

I. Pre-Reading Activities

Stimulating background knowledge: Brainstorming

Directions: Place students in groups, ask students to think about what they already know about  the topic.  Next, have students look at the picture(s) in the text and generate ideas or words that may be connected to the article. Debrief as a class and list these ideas on the board. Students can use The UIE brainstorming chart (sample) for assistance.

Brainstorming chart by UIE copy

II. While Reading Tasks

Word Inference

Directions: Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. They may use a dictionary, thesaurus, and Word Chart for assistance.

  1. The research was designed to determine if occupants would trust a robot.
  2. The robot was designed to help people evacuate a building.
  3. The machine’s behavior should not have inspired trust.
  4. The research is part of a long-term study of how humans trust robots.
  5. Even when the robot made obvious errors the participants continued to follow the robot.
  6. People sometimes ignore nearby emergency exits.
  7. It directed them toward a darkened room.
  8. The researchers envision using groups of robots.
  9. They would be stationed in high-rise buildings.
  10. In light of these findings, the researchers are reconsidering the questions they should ask.

vocab Freeology

Reading Comprehension: Fill-ins

Directions: Place students in groups and after they have read the entire article, have them complete the following paragraphs taken from the article. They can use the words and terms from the list provided, or provide their own terms. They are to find the meanings of any new vocabulary.

Only when the ___made___ errors during the___ part of the___ did the participants question its directions. In those cases, some___still followed the robot’s instructions even when it___ them toward a darkened room that was blocked by furniture.
In future research, the___ hope to learn more about why the test ___trusted the robot, whether that ___differs by education level or demographics, and how the robots themselves might ___the level of ___that should be given to them.

Word List: emergency, obvious, scientists, indicate, experiment, robot, trust,  subjects, directed, subjects, response,

 Grammar Focus: Word -Recognition

Directions: Students choose the correct word to complete the sentences taken from the article. They are to choose from the options presented.

The research is part of a long-term studious/study of how humans/human treat/trust robots, an important ensue/issue as robots play a greater role/roll in society. The researchers envision/vision using groups of robots stationed in high-rise buildings to point occupants toward exits and urge/use them to evaluate/evacuate during emergencies. Research has shown/show that people often don’t leaf/leave buildings when fire alarms sound, and that they sometimes ignore/ignorant nearby emergency exits/exist in favor of more familiar building entrances.

Graphic Organizers: Finding the main idea

Advanced Spider map By writedesignonline

Topic/Concept/Theme  by Write Design  

Discussion/Writing Exercise

Directions: Place students in groups and have them  answer the following questions.  Afterwards, have the groups share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the following discussion topics.

1.The article states, “A more important question now might be to ask how to prevent them from trusting these robots too much.” Think of ways humans  might be prevented from trusting machines.

2. Beyond emergency situations, there are other issues of trust in human-robot relationships.   An example would be “If a robot carried a sign saying it was a ‘child-care robot,’ would people leave their babies with it?   Provide examples of  additional situations.

3. Discuss under what circumstances you would trust a robot.

3-2-1-Writing

Directions: Allow students 5 minutes to write down three new ideas they’ve learned about the topic from the reading,  two things they did not understand in the reading, and one thing they would like to know that the article did not mention. Review the responses as a class.

ANSWER KEY

Category: Technology | Tags:

Caregivers: Reliable Robots or Abusive Humans?

The Japanese government is increasing financial assistance to companies who can develop low-cost nursing home robots to help with the growing population of elderly people in the country. Companies in the United States are also developing robot-caregiver prototypes but are slower in finding just the right robot companion for older Americans with disabilities.

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key

Film Robot and Frank.

Film Robot and Frank.

Excerpt: The Future of Robot Caregivers  By L. Aronson The New York Times

“Each time I make a house call, I stay much longer than I should. I can’t leave because my patient is holding my hand, or because she’s telling me, not for the first time, about when Aunt Mabel cut off all her hair and they called her a boy at school, or how her daddy lost his job and the lights went out… I can, and do, write prescriptions for her many medical problems, but I have little to offer for the two conditions that dominate her days: loneliness and disability.

She has a well-meaning, troubled daughter in a faraway state, a caregiver who comes twice a week, a friend who checks in on her periodically, and she gets regular calls from volunteers with the Friendship Line. It’s not enough. Like most older adults, she doesn’t want to be “locked up in one of those homes.” What she needs is someone who is always there, who can help with everyday tasks, who will listen and smile.What she needs is a robot caregiver.

That may sound like an oxymoron. In an ideal world, it would be: Each of us would have at least one kind and fully capable human caregiver to meet our physical and emotional needs as we age. But most of us do not live in an ideal world, and a reliable robot may be better than an unreliable or abusive person, or than no one at all.

Last year in Japan, where robots are considered “iyashi,” or healing, the health ministry began a program designed to meet work-force shortages and help prevent injuries by promoting nursing-care robots that assist with lifting and moving patients. 

Film Robot and Frank.

Film Robot and Frank.

Researchers in the United States are developing robot-caregiver prototypes as well, but we have been slower to move in this direction… Even within the medical community, this idea that machines could help fulfill more than just physical needs meets largely with skepticism, and occasionally with outrage.

Film Robot and Frank.

Film Robot and Frank.

But the biggest argument for robot caregivers is that we need them. We do not have anywhere near enough human caregivers for the growing number of older Americans. Robots could help solve this work-force crisis by strategically supplementing human care. Equally important, robots could decrease high rates of neglect and abuse of older adults by assisting overwhelmed human caregivers and replacing those who are guilty of intentional negligence or mistreatment.”

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

Level: Intermediate – Advanced

Language Skills: Reading, writing, speaking and listening. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.

Time: Approximately 2 hours. 

Materials: Student handouts (from this lesson) access to news article, and video clip.

Objective: Students will read and discuss the article with a focus on improving reading comprehension, listening skills, and learning new vocabulary. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.   

I. Pre-Reading Activities

Stimulating background knowledge

Brainstorming

Directions: Place students in groups, ask students to think about what they already know about  the topic.  Next, have students look at the pictures in the text and generate ideas or words that may be connected to the article. Discuss  as a class. Students can use this great Brainstorming chart from Kootation. Great Brainstorming chart from Kootation.com

 

II. While Reading Activities

Word Inference

Directions: Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. They may use a dictionary, thesaurus, and Word Chart for assistance. 

  1. Aunt Mabel lit pine cones and danced and made everyone laugh.
  2. I can, and do, write prescriptions for her many medical problems.
  3. That may sound like an oxymoron.
  4. But most of us do not live in an ideal world.
  5. A reliable robot may be better than an unreliable person.
  6. Caregiving is hard work.
  7. More often than not, caregiving is tedious.
  8. Caregiving has adverse health consequences for those who do it.
  9. A consortium of European companies, universities and research institutions collaborated on the project  Mobiserv.
  10. Researchers in the United States are developing robot-caregiver prototypes.

 

Freeology Chart

Freeology Chart

 

Reading Comprehension

Fill-ins

Directions: Place students in groups and after they have read the entire article, have them complete the following paragraphs taken from the article. They can use the words and terms from the list provided, or provide their own terms. They are to find the meanings of any new vocabulary.

 Last year in___ where robots are considered “iyashi,” or___ the health ministry began a___ designed to meet work-force ___and help ___injuries by promoting nursing-care___ that assist with___and moving patients. 

A___of European companies, universities and research institutions collaborated on Mobiserv, a project that developed a touch-screen-toting, humanoid-looking “social companion” ___that offers ___about appointments and ___and encourages social activity,___eating and exercise. 

In___ researchers have developed ___ a robot that looks like a standing mirror cum ___monitors health___like blood pressure and has a screen for virtual doctor and visits.

Word List

metrics, Japan, program, medications, robots, shortages, family,

 healing,  prevent,  lifting,  consortium, vacuum cleaner, robot, 

reminders, healthy, Sweden, GiraffPlus,

 Grammar Focus

Structure and Usage

Directions: The following groups of sentences are from the article. One of the sentences in each group contains a grammatical  error. Students are to identify the sentence (1, 2, or 3 ) from each group that contains the grammatical error.

I

  1. Each time I makes a house call, I stay much longer than I should.
  2. I can, and do, write prescriptions for her many medical problems.
  3. Researchers in the United States are developing robot-caregiver prototypes.

II

  1. Already, we have robots to assist in surgery.
  2. Robots are increasingly used in rehabilitation.
  3. You can saw older Japanese people chatting happily with a robot.

III

  1. In the next decade, robot caregiver prototypes will become much more sophisticated.
  2. In that new world, my lonely  live would be improved by a robot caregiver.
  3. Are there ethical issues we will need to address? Of course.

III. Post Reading Tasks

Reading Comprehension Check

Directions: Students could use this  Topic/Concept/Theme organizer from Write Design to assist them with  discussing  or writing about  the main topic or theme of the article.Advanced Spider map By writedesignonline

Discussion/Writing Exercise

Directions: Place students in groups and have them answer the following questions. Afterwards, have the groups share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the following discussion topics.

1. The following 3 quotes are from the article. How would you put them into your own words?  With your group members discuss which of the ideas or for or against robots for the elderly.

“Caregiving is hard work. More often than not, it is tedious, awkwardly intimate and physically and emotionally exhausting. Sometimes it is dangerous or disgusting. Almost always it is 24/7 and unpaid or low wage, and has profound adverse health consequences for those who do it. It is women’s work and immigrants’ work, and it is work that many people either can’t or simply won’t do. Many countries have acknowledged this reality by investing in robot development.” 

“Researchers in the United States are developing robot-caregiver prototypes as well, but we have been slower to move in this direction. Already, we have robots to assist in surgery and very basic “walking” robots that deliver medications and other supplies in hospitals. Robots are increasingly used in rehabilitation after debilitating events like strokes. But a robot that cleans out your arteries or carries linens isn’t the same as a robot meant to be your friend and caregiver. Even within the medical community, this idea that machines could help fulfill more than just physical needs meets largely with skepticism, and occasionally with outrage.”

“But the biggest argument for robot caregivers is that we need them. We do not have anywhere near enough human caregivers for the growing number of older Americans. Robots could help solve this work-force crisis by strategically supplementing human care. Equally important, robots could decrease high rates of neglect and abuse of older adults by assisting overwhelmed human caregivers and replacing those who are guilty of intentional negligence or mistreatment.”

2. In your opinion are robots the correct choice for caring for the elderly? Provide reasons for your answers.

3. Would you consider getting a robot an elderly relative? For yourself when you get old?

3-2-1-Writing Activity

Directions: Allow students 5 minutes to write down three new ideas they’ve learned about robots for the elderly,  two things they did not understand, and one thing they would like to know that the article did not mention. Review the responses as a class. 

IV. Listening Activity   

Video Clip: Robots as Caregivers in an Aging World – AARP Tech Beat 

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

Directions: Have students look up the following terms before listening to the video:  buzz, ASIMO, humanoid.

Link to video

While Listening Activities

 Sentence  Fill-ins

Directions: Students listen for the correct word or phrase to complete the sentences taken from the video. They are to choose from the options presented.

In japan engineering/engineers  have been  designing/designating  robots for years, knowing the country will need them to care for a rapid/rapidly aging population.

Something America may also require in the years/year ahead.

And that inspired a film/firm  that created some buzz in the 2012 Sundance  film festival.

Set in the not so distance/distant future, Robot and Frank follows the  rocky/rock   relationship between a man with early Alzheimer’s and his robot companion.

Now meet ASIMO, what Holiday/Honda calls the world’s most advanced/advance humanoid robot. ASIMO will soon be able to recognize a person’s features/feet and even distinguish between people if more than one is talking to the robot.

Questions for Discussion

Directions: Place students in groups and have them discuss the following questions.

  1. After viewing this video what new ideas have you learned about robots caring for the elderly?
  2. Did you agree with everything the speakers said?  Discuss which comments  you agreed with and which ones you tended not to agree with.  Explain why.
  3.  With your group members, make up questions that you would like to ask any of  the speakers.
  4. What does ASIMO stand for?  What are the capabilities of ASIMO?
  5. In your opinion would ASIMO be helpful to all elderly people?
  6. Would you like to have ASIMO as a companion? Why or why not?

ANSWER KEY: caregiving robots for the elderly.

Category: Technology | Tags: ,

How Programmers Make Us Love Our Robots

There is a new interdisciplinary field of research called Human-Robot Interaction or H.R.I., where scientists study factors that will make robots more endearing to humans.  As robots are created to be better caretakers, maids and emergency responders, the line between useful tool and “being” becomes blurred. For some people a robot companion is wonderful. For others, placing “emotional” qualities in a machine might be potentially dangerous for humans.

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post With Answer Key.

Robot with a beating heart and sensors which allow him to hear and react to your human touch. Bristol Robotics Laboratory in England.

Robot with a beating heart and sensors which allow him to hear and react to your human touch. Bristol Robotics Laboratory in England.

Excerpt: How Robots Can Trick You Into Loving Them, By M. Koerth-Baker The New York Times

“ I like to think of my Roomba as cute and industrious. He makes noises while he cleans that make me feel as if he’s communicating with me.

iRobot Roomba comes in a variety of pleasing colors. Robot Shop.

iRobot Roomba comes in a variety of pleasing colors. Robot Shop.

Robosimian — a headless, quadrupedal disaster-response robot designed by engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory — is a bit more useful than my Roomba, slightly more human-looking and a lot less cute: the C-3PO to my R2-D2. Robosimian can maneuver over rubble and through narrow corridors in order to, one day, rescue humans from peril. But its more difficult task will be forming some sort of bond with the E.M.T.’s and first responders who might use it. Robosimian will be more than just a tool, but not quite a colleague.

NASA’s RoboSimian. Photo PCmag.

NASA’s RoboSimian. Photo PCmag.

In the future, more robots will occupy that strange gray zone: doing not only jobs that humans can do but also jobs that require social grace. In the last decade, an interdisciplinary field of research called Human-Robot Interaction has arisen to study the factors that make robots work well with humans, and how humans view their robotic counterparts.

The elelctric grandma from Ray Bradbury’s I Sing The Body Electric 1969( shown on Twilight Zone1982 ). Photo- pinksmoke.

The elelctric grandma from Ray Bradbury’s I Sing The Body Electric 1969 shown on Twilight Zone1982 . Photo- original link page removed.

H.R.I. researchers have discovered some rather surprising things: a robot’s behavior can have a bigger impact on its relationship with humans than its design; many of the rules that govern human relationships apply equally well to human-robot relations; and people will read emotions and motivations into a robot’s behavior that far exceed the robot’s capabilities. 

When a robot moves on its own, it exploits a fundamental social instinct that all humans have: the ability to separate things into objects (like rocks and trees) and agents (like a bug or another person). Its evolutionary importance seems self-evident; typically, kids can do this by the time they’re a year old.

The distinction runs deeper than knowing something is capable of movement. Nobody questions the motivations of a rock rolling down a hill, says Brian Scassellati, director of Yale’s social robotics lab. Agents, on the other hand, have internal states that we speculate about. The ability to distinguish between agents and objects is the basis for another important human skill that scientists call “cognitive empathy” (or “theory of mind,” depending on whom you ask): the ability to predict what other beings are thinking, and what they want, by watching how they move….if a robot and a human reach for the same object simultaneously, and the robot never hesitates or varies its speed, people think the robot is being rude. When the robot makes little jerky motions and slows down, according to Croft, people actually describe this disembodied arm as considerate — maybe even a little shy.

But this built-in gullibility has its downsides for robots, too. It’s relatively easy to program a robot with behaviors that arouse our cognitive empathy, but this can create a dissonance in expectations once people figure out it’s not as smart as it appears. A paper by David Feil-Seifer, assistant professor of computer science at the University of Nevada, Reno, briefly describes a study wherein a group of autistic children figured out that their new talking, moving robot pal really only had a limited number of phrases and behaviors in its repertory. They “became disappointed” — one child even stated that the robot was “learning-disabled.” (This shouldn’t be unfamiliar — consider the widespread derision and disappointment inspired by Siri, Apple’s “intelligent personal assistant.”) The other problem is more philosophical.

Our entire civilization is based on empathy,Sharlin told me. Societies are built on the principle that other entities have emotions.What happens when we start designing technologies specifically to exploit the very backbone of society? You get things like the Japanese-made therapeutic robot Paro — not smart, but programmed to manipulate us into treating them nicely.The Japanese robot Paro pushing the boundaries of robotics research.Photo ZDnet

Designed to look like a fluffy baby harp seal, Paro isn’t intelligent in the Isaac Asimov sense. But it seems incredibly sociable, capable of eliciting caregiving and affection from elderly people in nursing homes and hospitals…People treat Paro like a pet, or a baby — responses they’d never have to a Roomba, much less to Robosimian. 

The elderly find comfort in Paro.Photo Science Day

The elderly find comfort in Paro.Photo Science Day

Children love Paro. Photo Science Day

Children love Paro. Photo Science Day

Unlike Paro, most of the “smart” tools that are part of our lives today aren’t fooling anyone. But that soon may change.

No fluff here: Alien Klaatu and his powerful robot companion 'Gort' in the 1951 American Sci-Fi thriller, The Day The Earth Stood Still. Photo-classic films.

No fluff here: Alien Klaatu and his powerful robot companion ‘Gort’ in the 1951 American Sci-Fi thriller, The Day The Earth Stood Still. Photo-classic films.

And like any story about robots — from “A.I.” to “Wall-E” — this is really about us, not the machines. Thanks to Human-Robot Interaction research, whatever social skills we program into robots in the future will be illusory and recursive: not intelligence, but human ingenuity put to use to exploit human credulity.By using technology to fool ourselves into thinking that technology is smart, we might put ourselves on the path to a confounding world, populated with objects that pit our instincts against our better judgment.” Read more…

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

Level: Intermediate -Advanced

Language Skills: Reading, writing, speaking and listening. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.

Time: Approximately 2 hours.

Materials: Student handouts (from this lesson) access to news article, and video.

Objective: Students will read the article with a focus on improving reading comprehension and learning new vocabulary. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through discussions, and writing.

I. Pre-Reading Activities

 Predictions

Analyzing headings and photos

Directions:  Ask students to read the title of the post and of the actual article they are about to read. Then, have them  examine the photos. Based on these sources,  ask students to create a list of  words and  ideas  that they think might be related to this article.

KWL Chart

The K-W-L chart is used to activate students’ background knowledge of a topic in order to enhance their comprehension skills.

Directions: Have students use the KWL chart to list the information they already know about robots.  Later in the Post- Reading segment of the lesson, students can fill in what they’ve learned about the topic. Have students use this new K-W-L chart from ReadWriteThink.

 New K-W-L Chart from Read Write Think

 

II. While Reading Activities

Vocabulary

Word Inference

Directions: Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. They may use a dictionary or thesaurus for assistance. They might find this vocabulary chart by Word Map Education Oasis useful as a guide.

2-Word Chart By Education Oasis

  1. I like to think of my Roomba as cute and industrious.
  2. Robosimian is a headless, quadrupedal.
  3. Robosimian will be more than just a tool, but not quite a colleague.
  4. A group of autistic children figured out that their new robot pal had a limited number of phrases.
  5. You get things like the Japanese-made therapeutic robot Paro.
  6. Human ingenuity  can cause problems sometimes.
  7. When a robot moves on its own, it exploits a fundamental social instinct that all humans have.
  8. Nobody questions the motivations of a rock rolling down a hill.
  9. Agents, on the other hand, have internal states that we speculate about.
  10. Cognitive empathy is the ability to predict what other beings are thinking  by watching how they move.

Reading Comprehension

True /False/NA-Statements

Directions: Review the following statements from the reading.  If  a statement is true they mark it T.  If the statement is  not applicable, they mark it NA. If the statement is false they  mark  it F and provide the correct answer.

  1. Robosimian is a robot made in Japan.
  2. H.R.I.  stands for Human-Robot Interaction.
  3. Americans have more robots than Japan.
  4. In the future, more robots will occupy jobs that require sensitivity and grace.
  5. Robots  are only being  created to be caretakers.
  6. Robots are useful for all children as playmates.
  7. Paro is a robot made to resemble  a baby panda.
  8. People usually treat Paro like a pet, or a baby.
  9. Wall-E was a robot for Wall Street.
  10. The average personal care-giver robot costs three hundred dollars.

 

 Grammar Focus

Using Adjectives  to describe pictures    

Directions: Have students choose a picture from this lesson and write a descriptive paragraph using adjectives.

For a review ofAdjectives visit ESL Voices Grammar

 

III. Post Reading Tasks

Reading Comprehension Check

WH-How Questions

Directions: Have students use the  WH-question format to discuss or to write the main points from the article.

Who or What is the article about?

Where does the action/event take place?

When does the action/event take place?

Why did the action/event occur?

How did the action/event occur?

Discussion/Writing Exercise

Directions: Place students in groups and have them answer the following questions. Afterwards, have the groups share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the following discussion topics.

  1. The article states, “ H.R.I. researchers have discovered some rather surprising things: a robot’s behavior can have a bigger impact on its relationship with humans than its design.” Explain what this means in your own words.
  2. Give an example of  people attributing emotions to a robot’s behavior that may far exceed the robot’s capabilities.
  3. In your opinion, is it a good idea to design robots to appear and act like humans?  Provide reasons for your answer.
  4. If you could design your own robot, describe its capabilities.

IV. Listening Activity   

Video Clip: Can We Fall In Love With Robots?

“Robots play a bigger role in our lives than ever before. They build things for us, and even help keep our soldiers safe on the battlefield. But are we getting too attached? Anthony explores what happens when human emotion and robots mix.”

 

 

While Listening Activities

 

Sentence  Fill-ins -Multiple Choice 

Directions: Students listen for the correct word or phrase to complete the sentences taken from the video. They are to choose from the options presented.

1. The word  anthropomorphize means to

 a. study animals.

b. assign human qualities to animals or objects.

c. study mankind.

2.  Researchers think anthropomorphizing  helps us feel

 a. connected to things and gives us a feeling of control.

b.  distant from things that frustrate us.

c. happy about our products.

3.  When people anthropomorphize  objects they feel

 a.  more overwhelmed.

b. sad.

c. less  overwhelmed.

4. Robots are being built to behave like

a. b. bbbbthey are machines.

b. they have a mind of their own

c. they will conquer the world.

5. Studies have shown that the elderly, disable, and  people with dementia can benefit  from  having robots in the house because

 a. It makes them feel less isolated.

b. they can sell them later.

c. they will attract more friends.

6. The downside to anthropomorphizing is

 a. the robots start to take control.

b. people become too close to the robots.

c. the robots begin to break down.

7. The example used to prove this fact was

a. soldiers in the field.

b. the elderly.

c. young children.

8. Soldiers began to view robots as

 a. the enemy.

b. their friends.

c. their subordinates.

9. The concern was that forming an emotional bond with the robots might

a. influence  a soldier’s decision making.

b. help the soldier to miss home.

c. make the soldier crazy.

10. Researchers are concerned about the change to robots resembling

a. care-givers.

b. other soldiers.

c. humanoids or animal-like creatures.

 Post-Listening Activities

Questions for Discussion

  1. After listening to this video has your personal idea of robots behaving more like humans changed in any way?   If yes, describe in what way.  If no, describe your original opinion.
  2. Did you agree with everything the speaker said?  Discuss which comments  you agreed with and which ones you tended not to agree with.   Explain why.
  3. With your group members, make up questions that you would like to ask the speaker.

 ANSWER KEY: Loving Our Robots

 

 

Category: Education, Technology | Tags:

C-3PO: “Robots As Teachers? Oh Dear”

Robots have become an intricate part of our lives, so it’s no surprise that they are now being  prepared to enter the classrooms as teachers of young children.   Currently, researchers at MIT and Yale are focusing on improving  the social cues like intonation, gestures, and facial expressions, of robots to make them more likable to children.

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key.

C-3PO (l) and R2D2. Photo-DMA Central.

C-3PO (l) and R2D2. Photo-DMA Central.

Excerpt: Coming Soon to a Kindergarten Classroom: Robot Teachers, By Adam Sneed, Slate Magazine

“We’ve been promised for years that robots will soon move from factories into our everyday lives (maybe even white-collar offices), and yet so far, the closest thing we have to Rosie Jetson is the Roomba. In addition to dexterity and the ability to walk, one of the biggest hurdles to personal robotics has been human-machine interaction. For a machine to enter human space, it has to understand certain niceties.(You don’t want a robot chef that can’t tell if you gag when you take a bite of its food, do you?)

Robot teachers. Photo-Scoopit.

Robot teachers. Photo-Scoopit.

And if a robot with social skills can be built, it could have a huge effect on our classrooms. An ideal social robot responds not just to what you say, but to how you say it—factoring in social cues like intonation, gestures, and facial expressions. The robot can then respond with appropriate body language. We take this kind of interaction for granted in science fiction—with C-3PO, for example.

English-teaching robot. Photo Purdue Education.

English-teaching robot. Photo Purdue Education.

We like treating robots as though they are people. Even with today’s simplest robots, researchers have seen study participants give their machines names and carry on one-sided conversations with them. Compare that to the ambivalence people feel about their computer screens (and no, you do not literally love your smartphone) and it’s easy to see the potential for robots to keep people engaged.6. An English-teaching robot. Photo- Boston Globe

Our affinity for robots also appears to affect how we learn from them. Researchers at Yale recently found that people doing cognitive tasks like logic puzzles … learn more effectively when guided by a physical robot than they do with the same help from an on-screen avatar.

The study doesn’t draw conclusions as to why the physical robot was a more effective teacher than its on-screen version, but one guess is that the physical presence of a teaching robot lends it a degree of authority that participants didn’t sense from the digital instructors. Researchers at the University of Delaware are providing safe mobility to children with special needs, Photo- growing your baby.

A National Science Foundation project led by Scassellati, Breazeal and USC professor Maja Mataric aims to push these limits. The team is working to develop robots that can help children with disabilities learn social and cognitive skills. In order to carry out meaningful interactions, though, these robots have to be able to learn on their own so they can understand an individual’s personality traits and social cues.

A Robot in Korean Kindergarten. Photo Scoopit

A Robot in Korean Kindergarten. Photo Scoopit

Juyang Weng, co-founder of Michigan State University’s Embodied Intelligence Laboratory, is studying how robotic learning and cognitive development can look more like human learning in order to strengthen the connection between children and robot teachers…Eventually if a robot can develop its mind, then the robot can be a very close friend of a child,Weng says. The robot can be a teacher in a very fundamental way.” 

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

Level: Low Intermediate -High Intermediate

Language Skills: Reading, writing, speaking and listening. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.

Time: Approximately 2 hours

Materials: Student handouts (from this lesson) access to news article, and video.

Objective:  Students will read the article with a focus on new vocabulary. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through discussions, and writing. The language skills practiced will be reading, writing, speaking and listening.

I. Pre-Reading Tasks

 Prediction

Analyzing headings and photos

Directions:  Have students use this Pre-reading organizer by Scholastic to assist them in finding the main ideas from the reading.

 Pre-reading Organizer By Scholastic

II. While Reading Tasks

Vocabulary

Word Inference

Directions: Have students use the Word organizer from Enchanted Learning to assist them with new vocabulary.

Color Vocabualry Map by Enchanted Learning

 Sentences:

  1. Robots will soon move from factories into our everyday lives, maybe even white-collar offices.
  2. In addition to dexterity and the ability to walk robots will do more tasks.
  3. An ideal social robot responds not just to what you say, but to how you say it.
  4. Factoring in social cues like intonation, gestures, and facial expressions robots will appear  more human.
  5. The ambivalence people feel about their computer screens is amusing.
  6. Our affinity for robots also appears to affect how we learn from them.
  7. Researchers at Yale recently found that people doing cognitive tasks like logic puzzles are more open to robots.
  8. The study doesn’t draw conclusions as to why the physical robot was a more effective teacher than its on-screen version.
  9. A teaching robot lends the screen a degree of authority.
  10. Creating artificial intelligence… will set a new standard for interactive educational technologies.

 Reading Comprehension

  Sentence Match

Directions: Students  are to complete the sentences from the article by selecting the correct words or phrases.

1. An ideal social robot responds not just to what you say, but to

a- how you say it.

b-the tone you use.

c-how you spell it.

2. The robot can then respond with appropriate

a-speech.

b-sounds.

c-body language.

3. We like treating robots as though they are

a- mechanical friends

b-people.

c-toys.

4. Our affinity for robots also appears to affect how

a-we create them.

b- we learn from them.

c-we gather information from them.

5. The way we divide the world between animate and inanimate objects plays a major role in how

a- we learn.

b- we create robots.

c- we choose robots.

6. The team is working to develop robots that can help children

a- learn their alphabet.

b- learn how to sing.

c-  with disabilities learn social and cognitive skills.

7. In order to carry out meaningful interactions, though, these robots have to be able to learn

a-on their own.

b- through a computer.

c- from a reader.

8.Traditional robots, even ones used in education, aren’t really

a-friendly

b- interactive.

c-sophisticated

9.  Eventually if a robot can develop___then the robot can be a very close friend of a child,

a- feedback,

b- program,

c-its mind,

10. But moving social robots from science fiction to reality promises to be a powerful force for ___.

a-for mankind

b-programmers

c-education.

 Grammar Focus

 Identifying Parts of Speech

Nouns

Directions:  Students are to identify the nouns in the following paragraph, then use as many of the terms as possible  to write their  own paragraph concerning robots.

“We’ve been promised for years that robots will soon move from factories into our everyday lives (maybe even white-collar offices), and yet so far, the closest thing we have to Rosie Jetson is the Roomba. In addition to dexterity and the ability to walk, one of the biggest hurdles to personal robotics has been human-machine interaction. For a machine to enter human space, it has to understand certain niceties.(You don’t want a robot chef that can’t tell if you gag when you take a bite of its food, do you?)”

 

III. Post Reading Tasks

WH-question format

Directions: Have students use the  WH-question format to discuss or to write the main points from the article.

WH-How Questions

Who or What is the article about?

Where does the action/event take place?

When does the action/event take place?

Why did the action/event occur?

How did the action/event occur?

Discussion/Writing Questions

Directions: Place students in groups and have them answer the following questions. After, have the groups share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the discussion topics.

  1. How would you react to a robot teaching your classes?  Would you feel comfortable?  Explain why or why not.
  2. Do you think that young children would feel comfortable with a robot as a teacher? Provide reasons for your answer.
  3. Should robot teachers get a salary the same as non-robot teachers? Explain why or why not.
  4. Can you think of any reasons why robots should “not” be introduced into the classroom?  Provide examples.

IV. Listening Activity 

  Video Clip: Japanese School Tests Robot Teacher

Introduction: “Students at the Kudan Elementary School in downtown Tokyo were told a special teacher would help them with their science class.”

While Listening Exercise

Multiple choice

Directions: Students are to choose the correct response from the ones provided from the video.

1. But few [children] expected the teacher would need___ to help her up to the podium.

a- another teacher.

b-three grown men.

c- a fork-lift.

2. Saya, the substitute teacher, is a___ .

a- robot.

b- computer screen.

c- avatar.

3. Built by Professor Hiroshi Kobayashi of Tokyo University of Science, he says she’s not meant to___.

a- talk to the children.

b- be a baby-sitter.

c- take away the jobs of teachers.

4. Saya may be able to help in schools where___

a- there are many children.

b- there is a shortage of teachers.

c- technology training is needed.

5. “… in some small schools, there are children who do not have the opportunity to come into contact with___

a- new technology.

b-new friend.

c-new teachers.

6. Most students were___by the robot.

a-afraid

b-angry

c-mesmerized

7. One student remarked that “ “Its so much more fun than____

a- playing sports.”

b-doing homework.”

c-regular classes.”

8. Another student said that “ “It was great seeing the robot___

a-teaching.”

b- moving and speaking.”

c- asking questions.”

9. But the class teacher was not convinced Saya was ___

a-to play with the children.

b- stand on her own.

c-ready to go full time.

10. The___of the children did not stop after the class.

a-curiosity

b- noise

c-anger

Post Listening

Directions: With your group members, make up questions that you would like to ask the speakers.

ANSWER KEY-Teacher robots.

Category: Education, Technology | Tags: ,