Designing Human-Robot Ecologies: Beyond Utilitarian Relations

The introduction of a robot to a context triggers complex shifts in everyday practices, surpassing mere utilitarian interactions. Robots, far from existing in isolation, integrate into ever-evolving ecosystems comprised of people, things, and other nonhumans. With their inherent intelligence, robots possess a distinct ability to convey intent, a trait beyond the reach of traditional, non-intelligent artifacts. Hence, as humans, we perceive them as “other.” Designing these relationships of alterity requires recognizing the dynamic and complex nature of the ecosystems the robots are part of, prioritizing the situatedness of interactions, and addressing the inherent accountability and ethical aspects within them. In this chapter, we present eight approaches that delve into these alterity relationships by identifying, assessing, imagining, and reimagining them.