Seminar: Chihyung Jeon, KAIST, 6 Feb, 1:00pm
When: Thurs 6th of Feb, 1:00pm
Where: Rose St Building seminar area
Speaker: Chihyung Jeon
Title: Talking over the robot: A field study of strained collaboration in a dementia-prevention robot class in South Korea
Abstract: I will present a case study of Silbot – a “dementia-prevention robot” – at a regional health center in South Korea, which I conducted with my graduate students at KAIST. From our on-site observation of the Silbot classes, we claim that the efficacy of the robot class relies heavily on the “strained collaboration” between the human instructor and the robot. “Strained collaboration” refers to the ways in which the instructor works with the robot, attempting to compensate for the robot’s functional limitation and social awkwardness. In bringing Silbot into the classroom setting, the instructor employs characteristic verbal tones, bodily movements, and other pedagogical tactics. The instructor even talks over the robot, downplaying its interactional capacity. We conclude that any success of such robot programs requires a deeper understanding of the spatial and human context of robot use, including the role of human operators or mediators and also that this understanding should be reflected in the design, implementation, and evaluation of robot programs.
Bio: Chihyung Jeon is an associate professor of science, technology, and policy at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology). He received his PhD degree in STS (Science, Technology & Society) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has conducted research at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin and the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society in Munich. His research focuses on the sociocultural relationship between humans and technologies. He is currently working on cultures of AI and robotics in South Korea and participating in LIFEBOTS Exchange, an EU-funded research network on social robots for welfare and healthcare. He is also interested in the technologies and cultures of simulation, remoteness, and humanlessness. Within KAIST, he is also affiliated with the Center for Anthropocene Studies, where he is looking at scientific and public practices about aerial conditions.