The Life Scientific: Helen Hastie
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What is the vision for future robot-human interactions?
Hello. Let's start with a quick test. If I ask you to conjure up an image of a useful and reliable robot helper, what springs to mind? Some of you might be thinking of those industrial robotic arms used in car assembly lines, or perhaps an explosive ordnance bot, the remote-controlled devices used by bomb disposal teams. Others might be focusing on fictional robots, R2-D2 from Star Wars perhaps. Not just a tool, but a machine that can actually interact with humans. One that is communicative, responsive and even trustworthy. In fact, those sorts of relationships are the focus for today's guest. Helen Hastie is a professor of human-robot interaction and head of the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh.
Her mission is to develop robots that don't just think, but connect. Systems that will competently perform their tasks, but which can also hold a natural conversation and explain themselves clearly to their human colleagues. Although, as we'll hear, that's not quite as straightforward as Star Wars made it seem. Helen's career has taken her from developing early dialogue systems, the ancestors of today's generative AI, to working on sophisticated bots that can serve coffee with a side of small talk, teach struggling kids with empathy, or provide calm and confident decisions as triage nurses. She's also driven some of the UK's flagship robotics initiatives, not least as co-lead of the National Robotarium.
Ultimately, her ethos is robotics for all, shaping a future where robots aren't just in our world, they're part of it.
How has Helen Hastie's career shaped her views on robotics?
Ideally, a welcome one. Professor Helen Hastie, welcome to The Life Scientific.
Thanks for having me.
Now, Helen, a big part of your work is getting people to trust and welcome robots in everyday settings. What would you say is the biggest misconception people have that might put them off having a robot colleague?
So we see in the media and in sci-fi movies, these robots that are highly functioning, that can do many, many jobs and are social and cognitively quite intelligent. Now, we are far from that. We do have some robots that can perform very, very well on specific tasks, but these tend to be very narrow tasks. So we are quite a long way from these all functioning, intelligent robots.
I suppose a lot of us hear the word robot and do think of those humanoid versions from sci-fi movies that can do everything, including take over the world, of course. But I gather there are actually quite a few issues with making robots in human form.
Sure. So robots that generally look like humans, not necessarily those with legs, but in some kind of human shape, can be really useful for certain settings. But we have to be really careful. There's a phenomenon called the uncanny valley.
What misconceptions do people have about robots?
And as robots become closer to looking like humans, particularly in terms of detailed looks, this can actually be quite unsettling. So it's good that robots look a bit like us, but Not too much like us.
I mean, so is there a sweet spot of how human a robot should look if it's going to be accepted?
Yes, most definitely. And it's very dependent on the task. So robots in the home, maybe it's good they look a bit like us. But robots working in factories or warehouses or stacking shelves, it's actually better if they look like they know what they're doing in terms of the function that they're designed to do.
So having wheels, for example, rather than legs.
Exactly.
Yes. Yeah. Thinking about trustworthiness in robots does make me wonder about the current concerns around over-reliance on large language models, like chat GPT, for example, having influence over vulnerable youngsters or isolated individuals. Is there an element of risk to making robots more trustworthy, as in the more we trust them, the greater the risk of manipulation?
So it's very important that we install the appropriate amount of trust.
Why is the appearance of robots important for trust?
So it's important not to overtrust robots and it's also important not to undertrust them. For example, a robot that's used in surgery that is highly accurate, maybe more so than a human.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the vision for future robot-human interactions?
0:00–1:38
2
How has Helen Hastie's career shaped her views on robotics?
1:38–2:52
3
What misconceptions do people have about robots?
2:52–3:58
4
Why is the appearance of robots important for trust?
3:58–4:52
5
What challenges exist in creating trustworthy robots?
4:52–5:42
6
How do robots learn to interact with humans effectively?
5:42–6:42
7
What insights were gained from the Robo Barista experiment?
6:42–7:43
8
How can robots improve quality of life for the elderly?
7:43–26:28