Pakhuis De Zwijger

Robots have been part of our daily lives for a long time now. Despite the tools at our disposal to be in contact with each other, a large group of people feels lonelier than ever and we now see robots filling the gap in the demand for care, attention, love, and sex. Can we teach robots how to love? And what can they teach humans? This exponential growth of technology is a cause for optimism but also presents us new ethical dilemmas.

Speakers at this event: Ine Gevers, Giep Hagoort, L.A. Raeven, Gijs Frieling and Martijntje Smits.

The Sexrobot vs. the Brothel owner
Do robots have legal rights? Giep Hagoort is professor emeritus at the Utrecht School of the Arts and fueling the debate on robot rights. Involving real lawyers and a real judge, he initiated a pilot process to address the legal position of robots. In this lawsuit, a brothel owner indicts a sex robot from her brothel. The sex robot has distributed information on the internet about a violent client and the brothel owner, fearing increasing reputational damage for her business, is suing the robot to stop the publication of information. Previous attempts to hack the sex robot to limit damage did not work out. What will be the verdict of the judge? Although fiction, the lawyers take this case very serious – Giep will elaborate on the lawsuit and why the outcome of this trial matters.

Annelies, looking for Completion
What would it be like if you had the opportunity to copy yourself or your loved one? Liesbeth en Angelique Raeven are not only an artist duo, they are also twins – known for their penetrating and personal work on social themes such as the far-reaching individualization and the oppressive pursuit of perfection. With their latest project Annelies, Looking for Completion, the Raeven Raeven sisters examine above and other questions by creating an identical android robot sister. With a face based on Angelique’s looks and a body that is a replica of Liesbeth’s, the ‘cloned’ triplet sister Annelies also addresses philosophical issues like the fear of being abandoned and the feelings of loneliness.

The lovability of robots
In 2018, relationships between humans and robots are a very real thing. Given the amount of time we spend with our devices, that’s no great surprise, either. But do we have to develop robots for companion, friendship, love, and sex as well? In Ethica Nicomachea, Aristoteles claimed reciprocity of feelings is essential for love and relationships. Can a machine love, give love, and receive love?  Martijntje Smits is a philosopher of technology, an engineer and a scholar in innovation sciences. Together we reflect on different perspectives on social robotics.

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Location

Pakhuis De Zwijger
Piet Heinkade 179
1019 HC Amsterdam

Date

Thursday, September 27, 2018
20.00