Robots in Group Context

Abstract

Over the last decade, the idea that robots could participate meaningfully in complex human contexts such as groups and organizations has developed from a promising vision into a reality. Robots now assist human collectives in simple tasks such as delivery through complex high-stakes tasks such as disaster response or surgery. Despite this dramatic increase, not much is known about how these systems affect and interact with the overall task oriented and social functioning of the groups and organizations they are embedded in and how we should design robots to support all aspects of such interactions. This panel brings together experts on design, robotics, organizational behavior, team dynamics and science and technology studies to discuss challenges and opportunities arising from the increased participation of robots in teams groups and organizations.