Sociomorphing and an Actor-Network Approach to Social Robotics

Piercosma Bisconti*, Luca Possati

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeConference contributionScientificpeer-review

Abstract

Most of human-robot interaction (HRI) research relies on an implicit assumption that seems to drive experimental work in interaction studies: the more anthropomorphism we can reach in robots, the more effective the robot will be in 'being social.' The notion of 'sociomorphing' was developed in order to challenge the assumption of ubiquitous anthropomorphizing. This paper aims to explore the notion of sociomorphing by analysing the possibilities offered by actor-network theory (ANT). We claim that ANT is a valid framework to re-think the conceptual couple anthropomorphizing / sociomorphing and answer the following question: What kind of negotiation process and social practices can be developed in HRI, given the notion of sociomorph interactional networks?
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSocial Robots in Social Institutions - Proceedings of Robophilosophy 2022
EditorsRaul Hakli, Pekka Makela, Johanna Seibt
PublisherIOS Press
Pages508-517
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9781643683744
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Event5th Robophilosophy Conference: Social Robots in Social Institutions, Robophilosophy 2022 - Helsinki, Finland
Duration: 16 Aug 202219 Aug 2022

Publication series

NameFrontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications
Volume366
ISSN (Print)0922-6389
ISSN (Electronic)1879-8314

Conference

Conference5th Robophilosophy Conference: Social Robots in Social Institutions, Robophilosophy 2022
Country/TerritoryFinland
CityHelsinki
Period16/08/2219/08/22

Keywords

  • actor-network theory
  • anthropomorphism
  • HRI
  • human-robot interaction
  • philosophy of technology
  • social robots
  • sociomorphing

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