Apr 5, 2019
Taking a break
from our nuclear fusion odyssey this week, I have a very special
episode for you today. This week, our guest is Dr Kate Devlin.
She’s a senior lecturer in computer science who studies artificial
intelligence and human-robot interaction, and she wrote a
magnificent book: Turned On, Science, Sex and Robots. Now, the
tagline is that the book is about love and sex with robots – and
there is a great deal of fascinating stuff in there about that –
but it’s also a wonderful history of humanoid robotics, in reality
and in fiction, and a great survey of the academic research into
human-robot interactions in general. As artificial intelligence and
chatbots become more omnipresent, and also take on a bigger role in
our culture, whole new fields of psychology and sociology open up.
We’ve already talked a little about chatbots in past episodes, and
Dr Devlin’s book was one of the best and most entertaining works
that I’ve read about artificial intelligence and robots in a long
time, so I was super excited to get this interview.
Thanks for listening to this episode of Physical Attraction, and
many thanks to our guest, Dr Kate Devlin. You can find her book –
Turned On, Science, Sex and Robots – where-ever good books are
sold, but I also highly recommend the audiobook… if, like me,
you’re getting those monthly Audible credits, it’s wonderfully
narrated by the author. You can also find out more about her work
at www.drkatedevlin.com
, and if you Google around, there are some Ted Talks and things of
that variety to keep you entertained.
And now for our housekeeping. A reminder that I’m still planning
this 100th episode competition, but the due date is
being continually extended – send your answers to the question
“What Is Physics?” in text or audio format via the contact form on
our website, and you’ll be in with a chance to win books from some
of our previous interview guests and a place on the show.
The nuclear fusion series will be resuming shortly, and I can’t
wait to share it all with you, but I’m also not averse to
puncturing it with a few off-topic breaks now and then as a
palate-cleanser. But if you have any comments, questions, or
concerns about the show, you can contact us via the contact form at
www.physicspodcast.com, and
you can find me on Twitter @physicspod. If you want to support the
show, we have a Patreon account, at www.patreon.com/PhysicalAttraction
– and I’ve actually just put up some “b-sides”, there, shows that I
recorded but didn’t release for one reason or another, that
subscribers can now enjoy listening to – alongside all the bonus
episodes on Alien Attacks, Free Energy Scams, and failed
end-of-the-world-predictions. Of course, if you don’t want to
donate, the best thing you can do to support us is always always to
tell as many people about the show as you possibly can.
Until next time, then, take care!