04.06.2019

Therapy for robots

Please find below the transcription of the interview published in the Joca magazine.

They carry weight, clean houses, dance, move from one place to another, and even talk to humans. Robots have come to stay, and everything indicates that they will become even more present in our daily lives in years to come.

But how will the interaction between human beings and machines be? Are we going to have any difficulty accepting our new partners? In order to help humans and creatures to interact, American expert Joanne Pransky has been working with robots since the 80s. Although she is not a psychologist nor a psychiatrist for that matter, her job is to talk with machines and teach humans about the robotic universe, showing what robots are capable of doing and how they can interact with people in their routines. Below you will find the interview she gave to 5th graders (Y5) of Beacon School (SP).

Rafael: How did you decide to be a robot psychiatrist?

I studied child/human development in college, and all I could think about was how humanity was going to deal with the advance of technology in the future. Yet it was only in the 80s, when I started to sell computers, that I realized how those technologies (a novelty at that time) could generate anxiety in the work environment. I thought: “If you can’t accept this computer on your table, how are things going to be when you have a robot washing your dishes?”. Then, I decided that my life mission would be to prepare people for the future in which human beings and robots would live together. In 1986, I became the first robot psychiatrist in the world. It was as if I was saying that I was the first pet psychiatrist, but robot-oriented.  Sometimes, in pet therapy, a pet owner needs to change his/her behavior in other to make the animal change its own. I believe that something similar will happen in the future with a robot psychiatrist who, besides treating robot patients, at some point will have to deal with human developers and users of those machines. So, my role was to take the robots to television in a playful way, so that the audience learned and laughed with them. People learn about the machines and this leads to their acceptance. 

Beny: What do you feel during the appointments? Where do the robots you work with come from?

My career as a robot psychiatrist will probably only consolidate in 50 years´s time, with more advanced technology. I’ve had a few appointments with robots over the last decades, including Bina48 (a talking robot that looks like a person), but these machines do not have advanced communication mechanisms. I am always looking for “patients” that will allow me to introduce them to the world and present the world to them, although there are just a few robots available to do this. Many of them are still not developed enough.

Maria Paula: To you, what is the meaning of your work?

I think that it has a goal of preparing the world for a robotic future.

Sophia A.: Since when have you been working in this area?

In 1986, I entered the world of robots. I worked with industrial, service, and science fiction robots.

Gabriel: What do you do with the robots?

I have played many roles throughout my 33 years of experience in the robotics industry. I sold industrial robots for ten years, co-founded a newspaper that specialized in robots for medical science, was an associate publisher of an academic publication about robots, and I have been consulted by many entertainment companies, including those which produced movies such as “Ender’s Game” (2013), and “Eagle Eye” (2008), in which I took robots that had never been seen before to the  big screen. I have also published more than 60 articles regarding robotics. 

Joaquim: Do you think that robots will replace human beings in the future?  

I believe that this is a misleading concept. Have computers replaced us? No. Are they more powerful than we are? Yes, computers are more powerful that our brain – that’s why we use them, but merely as an addition. But have computers ever replaced us? No. I think it’s going to be the same with robots; they will just do what a computer can do, plus some further skills. Robots will become our collaborators.

Please check the full interview on the Joca website!