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Should We Trust Robots, and Should They Trust Us? | Dr. Ayanna Howard | TEDxBermuda

3,695 views · Published 4 December 2018 · 14:57 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: TEDx Talks · 2018 · Nonprofits & Activism

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As robots become more fully interactive with humans during the performance of our day- to-day activities, the role of trust and bias must be examined more carefully. Trust conveys the concept that when interacting with robots, humans tend to exhibit similar behaviors as when interacting with other humans, and thus may misunderstand the risks associated with deferring their decisions to a robot. Bias further impacts this potential risk in that these robotic systems are learning by mimicking our own thinking processes, inheriting our own implicit human biases. In this talk, we will discuss this phenomenon through the lens of robots that interact with people in scenarios that are realizable in the near-term such as in healthcare.
 Ayanna Howard, Ph.D. is the Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Professor and Chair of the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Howard’s career focus is on intelligent technologies that must adapt to and function within a human-centered world. Her work, which encompasses advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), assistive technologies, and robotics, has resulted in over 250 peer-reviewed publications.  Dr. Howard received her B.S. in Engineering from Brown University, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. To date, her unique accomplishments have been highlighted through a number of awards and articles, including highlights in USA Today, Upscale, and TIME Magazine, as well as being recognized as one of the 23 most powerful women engineers in the world by Business Insider. In 2013, she also founded Zyrobotics, which is currently licensing technology derived from her research and has released their first suite of STEM educational products to engage children of all abilities. Prior to Georgia Tech, Dr. Howard was a senior robotics researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She has also served as the Associate Director of Research for the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines, Chair of the Robotics Ph.D. program, and the Associate Chair for Faculty Development in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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