For a long time, tech culture has focused too narrowly on technical skills; this has resulted in a tech community that too often puts companies and code over people. Greater Than Code is a podcast that invites the voices of people who are not heard from enough in tech: women, people of color, trans and/or queer folks, to talk about the human side of software development and technology. Greater Than Code is providing a vital platform for these conversations, and developing new ideas of what it means to be a technologist beyond just the code. Featuring an ongoing panel of racially and gender diverse tech panelists, the majority of podcast guests so far have been women in tech! We’ve covered topics including imposter syndrome, mental illness, sexuality, unconscious bias and social justice. We also have a major focus on skill sets that tech too often devalues, like team-building, hiring, community organizing, mentorship and empathy. Each episode also includes a transcript. We have an active Slack community that members can join by pledging as little as $1 per month via Patreon. (https://www.patreon.com/greaterthancode)
217: Robots As "Social Entities" with Laura Major
02:05 - Laura’s Superpower: Problem Solving
04:07 - What to Expect When You’re Expecting Robots
- Check out our interview with Laura’s coauthor: Greater Than Code Episode 216: Robot and Human Collaboration with Julie Shah
- Where is human collaboration with robots heading?
06:59 - The Human/Robot Partnership
- Robot Personification
- Positives and Negatives
- Robots Will Never Be Perfect
- Making Our World “Robot Compatible”
14:34 - Human Behavior Towards Robots; Vice-Versa
- HitchBOT, the hitchhiking robot, gets beheaded in Philadelphia
- Marty the grocery store robot is a glimpse into our hell-ish future
- The robot waiters in this Japanese cafe are controlled by people with paralysis
20:38 - Robots as “Social Entities”
- Safety Transcending Competition
- Contextualization
- Observable
- Predictable
- Directable
24:43 - How Media Affects The Way People View Robots
- Science-Fiction Expectations
26:39 - How Humans Can “Update” Themselves: Experiencing Robotics
- Direct Exposure
28:23 - Robots as “Social Entities” (Cont’d)
- Vigilance Decrement
- Communication Problems
- Change Agent by Daniel Suarez
- What Robots/Humans Will/Should? Expect From Eachother
39:52 - Will and, if so, when will autonomous cars become the standard?
Reflections:
John: What is the right level of empathy for social entities?
Jamey: Being in the process of consciously creating new social norms and thinking more thoroughly about who you could be hurting with your actions.
Push, the talking trash can, makes his final appearance after 19 years at Walt Disney World
Casey: Treating certain social entities in different ways; i.e. a Roomba and a dishwasher. And, the way you have to think about who is outside autonomous cars: not just the passengers. Also, we should be on the lookout for robotaxis!
Laura: Not wanting robots in the future to look too much like people.
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Special Guest: Laura Major.