Alan Winfield on robot ethics

The Life Scientific

BBC

Technology, Personal Journals, Society & Culture, Science

4.6 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2017

⏱️ 28 minutes

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Summary

Alan Winfield is the only Professor of Robot Ethics in the world. He is a voice of reason amid the growing sense of unease at the pace of progress in the field of artificial intelligence. He believes that robots aren't going to take over the world - at least not any time soon. But that doesn't mean we should be complacent. Alan Winfield talks to Jim al-Khalili about how, at a young age, he delighted in taking things apart. After his degree in microelectronics and a PhD in digital communication at Hull University, he set up a software company in the mid-80s, which he ran for the best part of a decade before returning to academia. In 1993, he co-founded the Bristol Robotics Laboratory at the University of the West of England, by far the largest centre of robotics in the UK. Today, he is a leading authority, not only on robot ethics, but on the idea of swarm robotics and biologically-inspired robotics. Alan explains to Jim that what drives many of his enquiries is the deeply profound question: how can 'stuff' become intelligent.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is to the BBC.
0:04.0	Hello and welcome to the podcast of the Life Scientific.
0:08.0	First broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
0:10.0	I'm Jim Alkulele and my mission is to interview the most fascinating and important scientists alive today and to find out what makes them tick.
0:20.0	My guest today has the unusual title of robot ethicist.
0:24.4	Professor Alan Winfield is a voice of reason
0:27.2	amid the growing sense of unease at the pace of progress in the field of
0:30.8	artificial intelligence.
0:32.4	He's here to explain that robots aren't going to take over the world,
0:36.0	at least not any time soon,
0:38.0	but that doesn't mean we should be complacent.
0:41.0	At a young age, Alan's delight in taking things apart marked him out as an engineer.
0:46.0	After his degree and a PhD in digital communication at Hull University, he set up a software company in the mid-80s, which he ran for the best part of a decade,
0:55.4	before returning to academia.
0:57.8	In 1993, he co-founded the Bristol robotics laboratory at the University of the West of England, by far the largest
1:04.4	center of robotics in the UK. Today he's a leading authority not only on robot
1:09.9	ethics, but on the idea of swarm robotics and biologically inspired robotics.
1:16.1	What drives many of his inquiries is the deeply profound question, how can stuff become
1:21.1	intelligent?
1:22.1	Professor Alan Wufeld, welcome to the life scientific.
1:25.0	Hello Jim, I'm delighted to be here.
1:27.0	Thank you.
	...

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