Distinguished lectures in humanities : hybrid agencies in human - artificial agents interactions

Humans have long tried to make artificial versions of themselves. It is now well established that we attribute human-like states to artificial others. However, the effect of interacting with artificial minds and bodies on the human sense of self and self-identity is less understood. In this talk I will present theoretical and empirical work looking at embodied joint agency in human/ human versus human/ robotic and virtual agents. Specifically, I will outline the key role of the human embodiment and sense of self in establishing joint agency with artificial others. I will discuss key implications of these claims on recent efforts to design autonomous and interactive artificial others. I will introduce the notion of ‘hybrid agency’ to describe these new, technologically mediated ways to embody and control in tandem human and artificial minds and bodies in real and virtual environments.
Event date: 7/2/2024
Speaker: Prof. Anna CIAUNICA (University of Lisbon)