A G N I E S Z K A W Y K O W S K A

S O C I A L AT T U N E M E N T I N S O C I A L C O G N I T I V E N E U R O S C I E N C E A N D H U M A N - R O B O T

I N T E R A C T I O N

“Social cognition in human-robot interaction” research line Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

agnieszka.wykowska@iit.it

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E M PAT H I S I N G W I T H O T H E R S

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E M PAT H I S I N G W I T H O T H E R S

Empathy: “the capacity to share the feelings of others (…) Empathy makes it possible to resonate with others’ feelings” (Singer & Klimecki, 2014)

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E M PAT H I S I N G W I T H O T H E R S

Empathy: “the capacity to share the feelings of others (…) Empathy makes it possible to resonate with others’ feelings” (Singer & Klimecki, 2014)

“Empathy has been defined as an affective response stemming from the understanding of another’s emotional state” (Eisenberg, et al., 1991, after Decety & Meyer, 2008)

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C A N R O B O T S E M PAT H I S E W I T H U S ?

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C A N R O B O T S E M PAT H I S E W I T H U S ?

Ability to empathise would require from robots to have affective states, similar to ours. Perhaps they would also need similar physiological mechanisms.

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C A N R O B O T S E M PAT H I S E W I T H U S ?

Ability to empathise would require from robots to have affective states, similar to ours. Perhaps they would also need similar physiological mechanisms.

Present AI and robotics not there yet….

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W H AT C A N W E D O ?

For the time being we can:

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W H AT C A N W E D O ?

For the time being we can:

(1) detect social and emotional signals of the human (behavioural and also maybe (neuro-)physiological?

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W H AT C A N W E D O ?

For the time being we can:

(1) detect social and emotional signals of the human (behavioural and also maybe (neuro-)physiological?

(2) respond by imitating behavioural “empathetic”responses based on knowledge about how a human would behave in such circumstances

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W H AT C A N W E D O ?

For the time being we can:

(1) detect social and emotional signals of the human (behavioural and also maybe (neuro-)physiological?

(2) respond by imitating behavioural “empathetic”responses based on knowledge about how a human would behave in such circumstances

This should create social attunement

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S O C I A L AT T U N E M E N T I N H R I

Attunement (noun): being or bringing into harmony: a feeling of being “at one” with another being.

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S O C I A L AT T U N E M E N T I N H R I

Social attunement: an umbrella concept for various mechanisms of social cognition that the human brain uses in interactions with others. Example of these are:

Attunement (noun): being or bringing into harmony: a feeling of being “at one” with another being.

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S O C I A L AT T U N E M E N T I N H R I

Social attunement: an umbrella concept for various mechanisms of social cognition that the human brain uses in interactions with others. Example of these are:- joint attention

Attunement (noun): being or bringing into harmony: a feeling of being “at one” with another being.

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S O C I A L AT T U N E M E N T I N H R I

Social attunement: an umbrella concept for various mechanisms of social cognition that the human brain uses in interactions with others. Example of these are:- joint attention- spatial perspective taking

Attunement (noun): being or bringing into harmony: a feeling of being “at one” with another being.

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S O C I A L AT T U N E M E N T I N H R I

Social attunement: an umbrella concept for various mechanisms of social cognition that the human brain uses in interactions with others. Example of these are:- joint attention- spatial perspective taking- emotional synchronisation

Attunement (noun): being or bringing into harmony: a feeling of being “at one” with another being.

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S O C I A L AT T U N E M E N T I N H R I

Social attunement: an umbrella concept for various mechanisms of social cognition that the human brain uses in interactions with others. Example of these are:- joint attention- spatial perspective taking- emotional synchronisation- communicative gestures

Attunement (noun): being or bringing into harmony: a feeling of being “at one” with another being.

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H O W ?

Through well-controlled experiments and cognitive neuroscience methods — replicable and generalisable results

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H O W ?

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H O W ?

1. Identifying specific human behavioural parameters in well-controlled experiments, methods of cognitive neuroscience

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H O W ?

1. Identifying specific human behavioural parameters in well-controlled experiments, methods of cognitive neuroscience

2. Implementing controllers of the robot to copy human behaviours — imitation of empathy

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H O W ?

1. Identifying specific human behavioural parameters in well-controlled experiments, methods of cognitive neuroscience

2. Implementing controllers of the robot to copy human behaviours — imitation of empathy

3. Testing the attunement level (“attunement test”) - testing social cognition and engagement in well-controlled experiments, methods of cognitive neuroscience

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H O W ?

1. Identifying specific human behavioural parameters in well-controlled experiments, methods of cognitive neuroscience

2. Implementing controllers of the robot to copy human behaviours — imitation of empathy

3. Testing the attunement level (“attunement test”) - testing social cognition and engagement in well-controlled experiments, methods of cognitive neuroscience

4. Using results of step 3 to improve the quality of empathy and attunement

8Wykowska, Kajopoulos, Ramirez, & Cheng (2015, Interaction Studies)

Pre-programmed

vs.

Human pre-recorded

Results: • Joint attention influenced by perceived humanness• Lack of awareness of the correct hint

E X A M P L E R E S E A R C H

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TA K E - H O M E M E S S A G E S

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TA K E - H O M E M E S S A G E S

1. Empathy is an element of social attunement

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TA K E - H O M E M E S S A G E S

1. Empathy is an element of social attunement2. Imitating empathy can be achieved by studying human

behavioural markers of empathy

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TA K E - H O M E M E S S A G E S

1. Empathy is an element of social attunement2. Imitating empathy can be achieved by studying human

behavioural markers of empathy3. This requires cognitive neuroscience methods and well-

controlled experiments

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TA K E - H O M E M E S S A G E S

1. Empathy is an element of social attunement2. Imitating empathy can be achieved by studying human

behavioural markers of empathy3. This requires cognitive neuroscience methods and well-

controlled experiments4. This approach of fundamental science is also beneficial for

industrial products

T H A N K Y O U !agnieszka.wykowska@iit.it

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TA K E - H O M E M E S S A G E S

1. Empathy is an element of social attunement2. Imitating empathy can be achieved by studying human

behavioural markers of empathy3. This requires cognitive neuroscience methods and well-

controlled experiments4. This approach of fundamental science is also beneficial for

industrial products