The College of Humanities and Social Sciences in cooperation with New York University Abu Dhabi organized the 3^rd edition of the “UAE Joint Symposium in Social Robotics”, which is a multidisciplinary symposium that gathers together renowned developers, and robotics and social scientists to discuss recent developments in social robotics and their impact on GCC societies.

Specialists from the robotics industry in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Gulf countries all participated in the symposium. They presented keynote speeches about social robotics. The symposium also included exhibitions, training workshops and panel discussions.

Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences welcomes participants

Professor Hassan Al Naboodah the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences welcomed the delegates to the symposium and expressed his pride in organizing the event. He stressed the importance of technology in creating opportunities for human development. He also mentioned that this symposium was organized by human and social scientists and plays a key role in the world of robotic and the development of artificial intelligence.

Multi- Featured Presentations

The symposium offered different presentations on how to use robots in the learning process, clarifying the nature of the relationship between humans and robots in terms of scientific methodology. This was done by measuring human behavior and learning and how we can garner knowledge from robots. The symposium also explored different scientific theories such as artificial neural networks, the theory of the mind, the theory of simulation, a narrative on humanitarian law, and the theories of social activity and interaction. The symposium also shared industrial awareness, decision-making protocols and studied the interaction between human and machine models of innovation. Furthermore, it promoted self-government, learning processes and the interaction between intelligent social machinery and the concept of the social perception of the human race. Finally, explanatory models in the social sciences were  presented.

Cognitive Robots Mimic Human Brain

Dr. Massimiliano Cappuccio, Director, UAEU Cognitive Science Laboratory, explained, “the new field in Cognitive Science, cognitive robotics, is concerned with stimulating human brain, understanding how  it works, its cognitive function, including memory, perception and language processing. There is a common concern on the ability of robots to make decisions on moral issues. This seminar has shown a significant research advancement on human-robot relationship. 

Social Robots and Serving Societies

Professor Giulio Sandini, Italian Institute of Technology, talked about cognitive structure, emotional intelligence and social cognition of smart robots. Rolf Fever, Zurich University, Switzerland, addressed the issue of how to live with robots at the social and psychological levels. He discussed some concepts related to human-robot interaction including, communication, perception, emotion and trust.

Ronald Arkeen, University of Queensland, US, showcased solutions to algorithm problems with respect to robotics attitudes and moral. An explanation of the restricted role of robots in serving humans and economy, education, tourism and healthcare was given by Polo Radio