november, 2017
Time
(Tuesday) 19:00 - 22:00
Location
Members' Restaurant, European Parliament, Brussels
Event Details
The purpose of this dinner debate is to reflect on both sides of Robotics, the benefits and possibilities on the one hand and the risks and threats on the other
Event Details
The purpose of this dinner debate is to reflect on both sides of Robotics, the benefits and possibilities on the one hand and the risks and threats on the other hand. During this dinner debate we aim to achieve a balance between these two sides.
Robotic technology is a very powerful tool, especially with the continuous improvement of the internal Artificial Intelligence algorithms. Robots can help address the UN sustainable development goals (i.e. building infrastructure) and will benefit a lot of people.
However, as a society we should be aware of ‘the winner takes all’ effect and the high concentration of power in the hands of a few. There is an economic risk for regions that “fall behind”. Therefore, strong investments are required in research and tech transfer (e.g. innovation hubs). At the same time, there are risks regarding unethical or evil use of that concentrated power, requiring investment in research of the ethical issues, especially towards test and experiment possibilities (e.g. living labs, field labs) in order to bring this new technology into society.
Host
Michał Boni, MEP
Lieve Wierinck, MEP
Speakers for this event
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Juha Heikkilä
Juha Heikkilä
Head of Unit Robotics and Artificial Intelligencem DG CONNECT
Since 2014 Juha Heikkilä has been the Head of the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence unit in the European Commission Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, which develops the Commission policy and activities in Artificial Intelligence. The Commission has been funding a multidisciplinary programme on Cognitive Systems, Robotics and AI since 2004, focusing on smart robots and artificial systems, and in 2014 it set up a Public-Private Partnership in Robotics. Previously, Juha Heikkilä was involved in computational and corpus linguistic research at the University of Helsinki, and he has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Cambridge.
Head of Unit Robotics and Artificial Intelligencem DG CONNECT
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Siewiorek, Robert
Siewiorek, Robert
Technology Issues Journalist, Gazeta Wyborcza
Robert Siewiorek – PhD, literary scholar, journalist, feature writer and science popularizer interested in influence of digital technologies on humanity. An author of many popular science articles and few books. Writes for „Gazeta Wyborcza”.
Technology Issues Journalist, Gazeta Wyborcza
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Wisse, Martin
Wisse, Martin
Professor, TU Delft
Dr Martijn Wisse (1976) started a Mechanical Engineering programme at TU Delft in 1994 and has been active in robotics since 2000. He originally worked with humanoid walking robots, for which he was awarded a Veni grant in 2004 after obtaining his PhD. In 2010, he was also awarded a Vidi grant for his research on natural movement in robots. Since 2012, he has been leading the European Factory in a Day consortium, which develops ‘Plug & Work’ robot solutions for the SME sector. He also co-founded two companies: Lacquey, specialist in food-handling robots and robot systems integrator Delft Robotics. Wisse is co-founder of the TU Delft Robotics Institute and is closely involved in regional development activities, such as the establishment of the Robo Service Centre in Delft and the launch of the International Robotics Master Class ‘Robotics for Future Presidents’.
Professor, TU Delft
Speakers
Prof. dr. ir. Martin Wisse,
Professor, TU Delft
Juha Heikkilä,
Head of Unit Robotics and Artificial Intelligencem DG CONNECT
Robert Siewiorek,
Technology Issues Journalist, Gazeta Wyborcza