More Than Machines? - The Attribution of (In)Animacy to Robot Technology

Laura Voss

ISBN 10: 3837655601 / ISBN 13: 9783837655605

Published by Transcript Verlag, DE, 2021

About this Item

We know that robots are just machines. Why then do we often talk about them as if they were alive? Laura Voss explores this fascinating phenomenon, providing a rich insight into practices of animacy (and inanimacy) attribution to robot technology: from science-fiction to robotics RandD, from science communication to media discourse, and from the theoretical perspectives of STS to the cognitive sciences. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, and backed by a wealth of empirical material, Voss shows how scientists, engineers, journalists - and everyone else - can face the challenge of robot technology appearing »a little bit alive« with a reflexive and yet pragmatic stance.

Seller Inventory # LU-9783837655605

Bibliographic Details

• Title: More Than Machines? - The Attribution of (In)Animacy to Robot Technology
• Publisher: Transcript Verlag, DE
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3837655601
• ISBN 13: 9783837655605
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 666 grams

About this title

Synopsis

We know that robots are just machines. Why then do we often talk about them as if they were alive? Laura Voss explores this fascinating phenomenon, providing a rich insight into practices of animacy (and inanimacy) attribution to robot technology: from science-fiction to robotics R&D, from science communication to media discourse, and from the theoretical perspectives of STS to the cognitive sciences. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, and backed by a wealth of empirical material, Voss shows how scientists, engineers, journalists – and everyone else – can face the challenge of robot technology appearing »a little bit alive« with a reflexive and yet pragmatic stance.

About the Author

Laura Voss is a science manager in the Research Strategy Unit of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. With a background in neuro-cognitive, organizational, and occupational psychology, she previously worked as a science and technology studies researcher and as a science manager at the Munich Center for Technology in Society (MCTS) and for international robotics R&D consortiums at the Technische Universität München.