Public Lecture: Imagining Automatons

Teresa Heffernan presents "Imagining Automatons"

Part of the Automatons public lecture series hosted at University of King's College, Teresa Heffernan, PI of the "Social Robot Futures" project, will speak on "Imagining Automatons: Images of Robots in Fiction and Science." The lecture will take place Wednesday, January 17th, at 7:00pm in Alumni Hall, University of King's College. 

Dr. Heffernan describes the lecture as follows:

"News headlines, government reports, scientific journals, and museums often use fiction to frame discussions of the robotics and artificial intelligence industry, implying a direct trajectory between the fiction and the science. Yet when it comes to real-world policies, the literary imagination is marginalized in discussions of a technological future with the oft-voiced argument that we need to keep the “fiction” out of science. There are all sorts of ways in which fiction and art more generally are mobilized in the service of the robotics/AI industry in order to prove the “creativity” and autonomy of artificial intelligence; what gets shut down, however, is the critical potential of art. Resisting the tendency to read science as fiction coming true, this talk will consider the very different ways science and fiction imagine robots, artificial intelligence, and technological futures."

For more information on the Social Robot Futures project, read this interview with Dr. Heffernan or explore the project website. 

Explore the full line-up of the Automatons Public Lecture Series.