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Mechanica
Exploring Ethics
 the science and ethics forum
An ongoing series of free, public events jointly sponsored by the Ethics Center and the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. Go to the full schedule of events at the Fleet.
Our robots, our selves
listen to a pre-forum interview with Maureen Cavanaugh and her guests Professor Vernor Vinge and Dr. Lawrence M. Hinman. "Ethics in the Age of the Robot", KPBS These Days, Mar.3, 2009.

Date: March 4, 2009, 5:30 - 7 p.m.
Location: Reuben H. Fleet Science Center
Organizers: Mike Kalichman, Lawrence Hinman, & Stuart Henry, The Ethics Center
Jeffrey Kirsch, Lynne Kennedy, & Amanda Lincoln, Reuben H. Fleet Science Center
Program:
  • Will your robots be your best friends forever—BFF—or best enemies forever—BEF?

  • In Scientific American 2008, Bill Gates has called for a robot in every home by 2020. How are we going to live with them?
 San Diego Science Festival
In Japan, South Korea, and Norway, robots are quickly becoming the companions of the elderly, in some sense their friends. Georgia Tech roboticists have announced a new model that fetches objects for the elderly, while pet robotic seals have become increasingly popular among the elderly in Norway. Robots from the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla compete in robo-soccer games against Carnegie-Mellon. Soon they will be providing a similar role for children. Robots—some built by the same company that makes the robotic home vacuum, the Roomba—have quickly become the infantryman’s friend in Iraq and Afghanistan, ready to risk their existence to blow up enemy bombs or provide real-time battlefield intelligence. Some of us feel great affection toward our robotic vacuums that clean our floors with unerring regularity—and we wish others in our lives displayed a similar dependability. In South Korea, robotic machine guns are installed along the DMZ to automatically repel any invaders from the north. Autonomous robotic systems now oversee parallel parking in some new cars, and other autonomous systems are integrated into cruise control to automatically slow down your car when it gets too close to the vehicle ahead of it. Is the car itself becoming a robot, transforming us from drivers to passengers? Will this be a metaphor for larger transformations in our lives?

Join us and our panel of experts for a discussion of the role of robots in our lives. What would it mean to have a good life together with robots? What are the possible gains? The risks?

The panelists include:
  • Professor Vernor Vinge, Science Fiction Author
  • Dr. Lawrence M. Hinman, University of San Diego
    Moderator: Michael Kalichman, Co-Director, Ethics Center
Contact: Ethics Center
Resources:
San Diego Science Festival (SDSF) The 2009 San Diego Science Festival (SDSF) is the first and largest celebration of its kind on the West Coast. Celebrating this year's theme, "The Science of You," the Festival will provide 500+ free and entertaining science outreach activities to Greater San Diego County throughout the month of March. Programs include on-site activities at local schools, once-in-a-lifetime field trips, and science workshops at local businesses and research facilities suitable for all ages. The Festival concludes with Expo Day, a day-long celebration in Balboa Park on Saturday April 4, 2009. On Expo Day, science takes over the museums, cultural centers, and the central corridor of Balboa Park with over 300 hands-on activities, demonstrations, experiments, contests, and performances. San Diego Science Festival is a collaboration of over 100 leading science organizations and is facilitated by BioBridge, a program of UC San Diego. For more information, please visit the official SDSF website: www.sdsciencefestival.com.