Jim Torresen, University of Oslo (main organizer)
Short CV
Jim Torresen is a professor at University of Oslo where he leads the Robotics and Intelligent Systems (ROBIN)research group. He received his M.Sc. and Dr.ing. (Ph.D) degrees in computer architecture and design from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, University of Trondheim in 1991 and 1996, respectively. He has been employed as a senior hardware designer at NERA Telecommunications (1996-1998) and at Navia Aviation (1998-1999). Since 1999, he has been a professor at the Department of Informatics at the University of Oslo (associate professor 1999-2005). Jim Torresen has been a visiting researcher at Kyoto University, Japan for one year (1993-1994), four months at Electrotechnical laboratory, Tsukuba, Japan (1997 and 2000) and a visiting professor at Cornell University, USA for one year (2010-2011).
His research interests at the moment include artificial intelligence, ethical aspects of AI and robotics, machine learning, robotics, and applying this to complex real-world applications. Several novel methods have been proposed. He has published over 200 scientific papers in international journals, books and conference proceedings. 10 tutorials and a number of invited talks have been given at international conferences and research institutes. He is in the program committee of more than ten different international conferences, associate editor of three international scientific journals as well as a regular reviewer of a number of other international journals. He has also acted as an evaluator for proposals in EU FP7 and Horizon2020 and is currently project manager/principal investigator in four externally funded research projects/centres. That includes being a principal investigator at the Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion (RITMO). He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences (NTVA) and the National Committee for Research Ethics in Science and Technology (NENT)where he is a member of a working group on research ethics for AI. More information and a list of publications can be found here: http://jimtoer.no
Example of work in the area
See a relevant review paper. See a list of past and ongoing research projects here, and with the Vulnerability in the Robot Society (VIROS) project being much relevant for this tutorial.
Past teaching experience
Torresen has extensive experience in university course teaching, see overview in the CV here and an overview of past invited talks and tutorials here.
Atsushi Nazawa, Kyoto University
Atsushi Nakazawa is an associate professor in the Department of Infomatics at the Kyoto University. He received his doctorate from the Osaka University in 2001 in Systems Engineering. Afterward, he worked in Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo and then in Cybermedia Center, Osaka University. From 2013, he joined the Kyoto University. During 2007 to 2008, he studied in Georgia Institute of Technology (GaTech), GVU Center, as a visiting researcher, and worked with Professor James M Rehg and professor Irfan Essa. In 2010, I was awarded the Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology (PRESTO), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and become a researcher of this program. From Oct. 2017, he becomes a program investigator (PI) of the JST CREST project "Computational and cognitive neuroscientific approaches for understanding the tender care".
Diana Saplacan, University of Oslo
Short CV
Diana Saplacan is a researcher at University of Oslo, at the Department of Informatics, Robotics and Intelligent Systems research Group. She has been listed in 2021 as one amongst the 30 women in Norway changing the field of Artificial Intelligence, a list that has not been extended to over 70 women. She was was also featured as one of the proeminent women in AI in 2022. The nomination was made by the Norwegian Artificial Intelligence Consortium (NORA). She is currently working in Vulnerability in Robot Society (VIROS) research project, and is partially involved in Predictive and Intuitive Robot Companion (PIRC) research project. In addition, she is a board member of the following organizations: The Norwegian Council of Digital Ethics (NORDE), a board member of Tekna Big Dataprofessional national network within the area of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Industry 4.0, Internet of Things, and related fields, with over 5400 members, and a board member of Data Science Community Forum (dScience Community Forum) at University of Oslo. Further, she is a commiteed member of the IEEE Artificial Intelligence Standards Commitee, SG on Ethical Considerations of Cognitive Robots for Enhancing Human Efficacy, comittee member of Standards Norway, WG on Ethics & AI, and a member of the Artificial Intelligence in the Norwegian Healthcare Services (KIN - Kunstig Intelligens i Norsk Helsetjenste) - part of the National Center for E-Health Research. She received her Ph.D. degree (2020) from University of Oslo, Norway, and her M.Sc. degree (2013) from Kristianstad University, Sweden. Her Ph.D. degree is interdisciplinary within Design of Information Systems, at the cross of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) fields, with Universal Design (UD) knitting these fields. She previously worked as a Lecturer in Computer Science at Kristianstad University, Sweden (2013-2016/2020). Her current interests include Human-Robot Interaction and Human-Robot cooperation, ethics regarded through Universal Design principles, inclusion, and accessibility. She has published several papers within the area. These are listed on the official webpage here or can be found in the Current Norwegian Publication System in Norway, CRistin.
Example of work in the area
She has previously worked in the Multimodal Elderly Care Systems (MECS) project. The project investigated the use of a robot as a safety alarm for the elderly people that wished to live independently at home. She currently works in Vulnerability in Robot Society (VIROS) research project, and is partially involved in Predictive and Intuitive Robot Companion (PIRC) research project. A complete list of publications is given here.
Past teaching experience
She has experience in teaching from her Ph.D. degree that included teaching and administrative duties, from working as a lecturer for 3 (three) years, and through her participation in national and international collaborations or debates. She has previously organized, chaired and/or spoke at international tutorials at IROS 2021 on Ethical and Legal Assessments on Robots and Systems, at RO-MAN 2021 on Robots and Society, international workshops at NordiCHI 2018, NordiCHI2020, chaired a special track at ACHI 2020, and co-organized events related to the new European legal framework on AI, together with European Council‘s scientific experts on AI, data protection, and human rights. She has also, for instance, previously participated in the design of exchange program through the Linneaeus-Palme, Ubaya University, Indonesia. She has also engaged in questions addressing inclusion by participating at the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) at Information Telecommunication Union from United Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland (2016), and at the Anita Borg Institute, the local chapter launch, at Google Amsterdam, Netherlands (2016). She has also participated in debates addressing the necessary skills and competences with regard to digital ethics in Norway. She was an invited speaker at Skills Norway, the Norwegian National Organization Representing the Directorate for Lifelong Learning that belongs to the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research (the debate is available as podcast here), and in AI, robots, and their social impact presentation and scientific debate within the framework of Topicality Symposium. She has also been a guest lecturer and/or examiner in Norway, and outside of Norway (Sweden, China) (e.g., at Kristianstad University, Oslo Metropolitan University, Kristiania University College, Østfold University College, VID Specialized University, Xi-an Jaotong Liverpool University), and given talks during the Innovation Days at Krinova Science Park, Sweden. Finally, she was a facilitator and organizer of the Demola Network South Sweden, where she has facilitated innovation projects for BlackBerry AB, and Active Ageing research projects.
Edson Prestes, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil;
Short CV
Edson Prestes is Full Professor at Institute of Informatics of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He is leader of the Phi Robotics Research Group and CNPq Research Fellow. He received his BSc in Computer Science from the Federal University of Pará (1996), Amazon, Brazil, and MSc (1999) and PhD (2003) in Computer Science from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Edson is Senior Member of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE RAS) and IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA). Over the past years, he has been working in several initiatives related to Standardisation, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Ethics. For instance, Edson is Member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation, co-chaired by Melinda Gates and Jack Ma; Member of the UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group (AHEG) for the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence; South America Ambassador at IEEE TechEthics; Chair of the IEEE RAS/SA 7007 - Ontologies for Ethically Driven Robotics and Automation Systems Working Group (IEEE 7007 WG); Vice-Chair of the IEEE RAS/SA Ontologies for Robotics and Automation Working Group (ORA WG); Founding Chair of the IEEE South Brazil RAS Chapter; Member of the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems; Member of the MIT/IEEE Global Council on Extended Intelligence; Advisor in the Carnegie AI & Equality Initiative at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs; Senior Advisor at The Future Society; Advisor at AI Policy Labs; Advisor at C Minds; Fellow at US EP3 Foundation; and so on.
Among his contributions, one can highlight the following. In 2021, IEEE 7007 WG had approved the first global ontological standard for ethically driven robotics and automation systems. Due to this achievement, the IEEE 7007 WG was selected as a recipient of the IEEE SA Emerging Technology Award “For developing an innovative ontological standard on the ethics of artificial intelligence”. Also in 2021, the 193 UNESCO's Member States agreed on adopting the first global instrument on Ethics of Artificial Intelligence elaborated by the UNESCO with the support of AHEG. This instrument presents concrete actions to the several domains impacted by AI. It puts human rights at the forefront of these actions to unleash the benefits and opportunity that AI can bring while mitigating its risks. In 2015, IEEE ORA WG published the very first IEEE RAS standard, called IEEE 1872-2015 Ontologies for Robotics and Automation, and was the recipient of the IEEE-SA Emerging Technology Award. This standard was cited broadly including in the National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan, elaborated by the US White House, in 2016 In 2015, Edson was one of the recipient of the Jabuti Award, the most important Brazilian literary award, for co-organising the book entitled Robótica Móvel (in Portuguese).
Tobias Mahler, University of Oslo
Short CV
Tobias Mahler is a law professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo, where he is deputy director of the Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law (NRCCL). He specializes in information and communications technology law. His research is highly interdisciplinary, primarily combining legal research with computer science. His research interests cover a broad range of legal issues arising in the context of (i) robots, particularly with artificial intelligence capabilities, (ii) Internet governance (especially the domain name system), as well as (iii) cybersecurity and privacy. This focus on legal issues is complemented with research on legal technology to facilitate novel approaches such as legal risk management and visual representations of legal reasoning. He holds a PhD from the University of Oslo, an LLM degree in legal informatics from the University of Hannover, and a German law degree (first state exam). He has practised law in Norway as a corporate lawyer in the automotive industry, primarily working with international commercial contracts. Mahler has been a visiting fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and Criminal Law in Freiburg, Germany, and the Stanford Centre for Internet and Society. In 2020 he acted as an expert advisor to the European Commission on drafting the upcoming Digital Services Act.
Example of work in the area
Mahler is the legal research leader of the VIROS project (Vulnerability in the Robot Society). For publications, see here. A recent paper (Mahler 2022) discusses the proposed EU Artificial Intelligence Act.
Past teaching experience
Mahler is the Director of the Master of Laws Program in Information and Communication Technology Law at the University of Oslo. He teaches robot regulation, cybersecurity regulation, legal technology and artificial intelligence.
Yueh-Hsuan Weng, Tohoku University and Visiting Scientist, RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project
Yueh-Hsuan Weng is an Assistant Professor at the Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University and a Visiting Scientist at RIKEN-AIP in Tokyo. He has been appointed as Tohoku University Prominent Research Fellow (2021), Stanford Law School's TTLF Fellow (2018-2021), Visiting Assistant Professor at The University of Hong Kong (2018), and Peking University's Yahoo! Research Fellow (2010-2014). Dr. Weng received his Ph.D. in Law from Peking University with a joint doctoral education at Waseda University under Prof. Atsuo Takanishi’s supervision. The title of his Ph.D. dissertation is called “The Safety Governance for Service Robots: On Open-Texture Risk”. Regarding his teaching and research, he is strongly interested in issues concerning the interface between Artificial Intelligence and Law, including Robot Law, Social Robotics, and Legal Informatics. During his Ph.D. studies, he founded ROBOLAW.ASIA and CHINA-LII, which are China’s first initiatives in AI Law and Free Access to Law. He is currently serving as a chair of an AI Ethics standard study group on HRI under the IEEE Standards Association’s P7000’s framework.