Andrew Thaler of OpenROV
 and Joey Maier of Polk State will present a demonstration of their underwater robot. They will explain how providing a platform that is accessible to a majority of ocean stakeholder groups and can operate in marine and freshwater systems empowers researchers, citizen scientists, and conservation workers. Underwater robots provide the ability […]

All of the We Robot 2016 papers are now available for download from the Program Page — look for the colorful hyperlinks. If you’re coming, or if you are planning to follow along online, you will want to read as many of the papers as you can before the event. We Robot authors do not […]

We Robot is a gloriously multi-disciplinary conference. Legal and policy scholars discuss current and future robots and robotics technologies, and offer sage advice about how to legislate them. Roboticists talk about current and future legal and policy structures, and hypothesize how these might interact with the underlying technology. Ideas flow back and forth, and we […]

Computers with communicative artificial intelligence (AI) are pushing First Amendment theory and doctrine in profound and novel ways. They are becoming increasingly self-directed and corporal in ways that may one day make it difficult to call the communication “ours” versus “theirs.” This, in turn, invites questions about whether the First Amendment ever will (or ever […]

This paper examines the possible future application of robotics to policing on the assumption that these will be systems that are controlled by programmed computers, rather than cyborgs. In particular, this paper examines the legal and moral requirements for the use of force by police, and whether robotic systems of the foreseeable future could meet […]

As robots change daily life and commerce, governments will also need to change in response to this new technological challenge. This paper examines the kinds of government institutions U.S. federal policy-makers will need to develop and implement policy for the revolution in robotics. (The institutions that will be established after the robot revolution to govern […]

Artificial intelligence and robots reach higher and higher capacity levels every year and are increasingly prevalent. Robots are already heavily used in industrial settings, but increasingly also in healthcare, for service tasks, and in households. Social robots register our habits and attitudes, affecting our sense of intimacy, privacy, bonding and emotional support. Studies in the […]