2025.Feb.12

EVENTS

The 5th BAIRAL Research Meeting for Fiscal Year 2024
“Human-Robot Interaction from the Perspective of ‘Friendship’”

◇BAIRAL（B’AI RA League）

BAIRAL is a study group by young research assistants (RA) of the B’AI Global Forum of the Institute for AI and Beyond at the University of Tokyo. Aiming to achieve gender equality and a guarantee of rights for minorities in the AI era, this study group examines relationships between digital information technology and society. BAIRAL organizes research meetings every other month with guest speakers in a variety of fields.

◇Date & Venue
・Date: Monday, March 10, 2025, 6:00-7:30 pm (JST)
・Language: Japanese
・Venue: Online – Zoom meeting (No registration required)
https://u-tokyo-ac-jp.zoom.us/j/87814612472?pwd=7rvKB9FIan2sF9SrrYhKvWK8t91T1A.1

Meeting ID: 878 1461 2472 / Passcode: 223291

◇Guest Speaker

Aiko Ichikura (PhD Student, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo)

◇Abstract

Humans develop attachments to almost anything. Beyond interpersonal relationships, people form deep attachments to living beings such as pets, as well as to inanimate objects like stuffed animals, bicycles, and video game characters—sometimes even considering them “friends.” In the realm of science fiction, countless stories depict friendships between humans and robots, much like human-to-human relationships. But can humans and robots truly become “friends” beyond the world of science fiction? If so, what qualities or capabilities would a robot need to become a human’s “friend”?

The speaker explores the possibilities of human-robot interaction through the keyword “friendship.” As a first step in understanding human-robot friendships, an exploratory study was conducted with owners of household robots that already share deep relationships with humans, seeking to answer the question: How is “friendship” between humans and robots defined and explained? Next, recognizing that friendship is heavily influenced by individual experiences, a co-design workshop was conducted to collaboratively explore what a “friend robot” means to people. Furthermore, since communication is context-dependent, an investigation was carried out to identify environments that facilitate deeper bonds between humans and robots. The results of these efforts will be presented.

Finally, as a future prospect, a concept for a robot system focusing on memory as a means to strengthen human-robot relationships will be introduced. This talk will provide an overview of previous research findings and foster discussions on the nature of human-robot relationships.

◇Organizer

B’AI Global Forum, Institute for AI and Beyond at the University of Tokyo

◇Inquiry

Nozomi Ohtsuki (Research assistant of the B’AI Global Forum)
ohtsuki6nozomi[at]g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Please change [at] to @)