IPT Talk Series 2021-22

Wednesday, 10 November 2021, 20.00-21.00 (Athens time) (Online)

Helen Hastie

Trustworthy Autonomous Systems and Social Robotics

Abstract

Trust is a multifaceted, complex phenomenon that is not well understood when it occurs between humans, let alone between humans and robots. Robots that portray social cues, including voice, gestures and facial expressions, are key tools in researching human-robot trust, specifically how trust is established, lost and regained.  In this talk, I will discuss various aspects of trust for HRI including language, social cues, embodiment, transparency, mental models and theory of mind. I will present a number of studies performed in the context of two large projects:  the UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Programme, specifically the Node on Trust; and the EPSRC ORCA Hub for robotic and autonomous systems for remote hazardous environments. This work will be contextualised around the new National Robotarium opening soon in Edinburgh.

Helen Hastie is a Professor of Computer Science at Heriot-Watt University, Director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Robotic and Autonomous Systems at the Edinburgh Centre of Robotics, and Academic Lead for the National Robotarium, opening in 2022 in Edinburgh. She is currently PI on both the UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Node on Trust and the EPSRC Hume Prosperity Partnership, as well as being HRI theme lead for the EPSRC ORCA Hub. She recently held a Royal Academy of Engineering/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowship. Her field of research is multimodal and spoken dialogue systems, human-robot interaction and trustworthy autonomous systems. She was co-ordinator of the EU project PARLANCE, has over 100 publications and has held positions on many scientific committees and advisory boards, including recently for the Scottish Government AI Strategy.

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