The design of artifacts for augmenting intellect

Fifty years ago, Doug Engelbart created a conceptual framework for augmenting human intellect in the context of problem-solving. We expand upon Engelbart's framework and use his concepts of process hierarchies and artifact augmentation for the design of personal intelligence augmentation (IA) systems within the domains of memory, motivation, decision making, and mood. This paper proposes a systematic design methodology for personal IA devices, organizes existing IA research within a logical framework, and uncovers underexplored areas of IA that could benefit from the invention of new artifacts

Fictional Proto-architecture as an Introduction to Biologic Design: Challenging the Concept of Morphogenesis of Neo-architectural Organism

The architecture is based on a dialectical search for new ways of matter representation. We deal with the form of contemporary architecture under two approaches: expression and content. The article examines how mathematical principles based on natural growth can be applied in architectural design to create a dynamic, not static, structure. The dynamic process of the cell and its growth provides the basic structure. The continuity of the domain is exemplified by the impact of the new forms on the society that has already begun to emerge from the obscurity. The paper argues that without a deeper and more receptive connection between geometry and performance from a bio-morphogenetic perspective of complex systems. The experimental design methods are applied both to generate and to evaluate an architecture of the futuristic lines. These methodological frameworks focus on cyclically restated themes in the field of parametrises, which are identified as endemic to architecture: the realization of buildings, of multifunctional volumes and customized per se through a gradual approach of the architectural properties and the exploitation of a "concept construction" integrated as a process, obtained through innovative modelling environments. And so, and the reconstruction of architecture as an organ of nature is demonstrated. The new vanguard of proto architecture describes difficulties and inconsistencies in the relationship between theories and structures, difficulties arising from the very idea of "virtually" itself. It becomes difficult to say that a drawing in cyberspace is an architectural form or just a graph of architectural theory; in the virtual space, there is no difference between the particular structure and the general principle. Therefore, the form is first designed, only after to be constructed. Naturally, it is impossible (theoretically or technically) for design and construction processes to take place simultaneously. Predictably, bio-morphosis leads to multiple forms of expression, defined and transmitted in geometric terms. Doi: 10.28991/esj-2020-01248 Full Text: PD

Social Emotions in Multiagent Systems

Tesis por compendioA lo largo de los últimos años, los sistemas multi-agente (SMA) han demostrado ser un paradigma potente y versátil, con un gran potencial a la hora de resolver problemas complejos en entornos dinámicos y distribuidos. Este potencial no se debe principalmente a sus características individuales (como son su autonomía, su capacidad de percepción, reacción y de razonamiento), sino que también a la capacidad de comunicación y cooperación a la hora de conseguir un objetivo. De hecho, su capacidad social es la que más llama la atención, es este comportamiento social el que dota de potencial a los sistemas multi-agente. Estas características han hecho de los SMA, la herramienta de inteligencia artificial (IA) más utilizada para el diseño de entornos virtuales inteligentes (IVE), los cuales son herramientas de simulación compleja basadas en agentes. Sin embargo, los IVE incorporan restricciones físicas (como gravedad, fuerzas, rozamientos, etc.), así como una representación 3D de lo que se quiere simular. Así mismo, estas herramientas no son sólo utilizadas para la realización de simulaciones. Con la aparición de nuevas aplicaciones como \emph{Internet of Things (IoT)}, \emph{Ambient Intelligence (AmI)}, robot asistentes, entre otras, las cuales están en contacto directo con el ser humano. Este contacto plantea nuevos retos a la hora de interactuar con estas aplicaciones. Una nueva forma de interacción que ha despertado un especial interés, es el que se relaciona con la detección y/o simulación de estados emocionales. Esto ha permitido que estas aplicaciones no sólo puedan detectar nuestros estados emocionales, sino que puedan simular y expresar sus propias emociones mejorando así la experiencia del usuario con dichas aplicaciones. Con el fin de mejorar la experiencia humano-máquina, esta tesis plantea como objetivo principal la creación de modelos emocionales sociales, los cuales podrán ser utilizados en aplicaciones MAS permitiendo a los agentes interpretar y/o emular diferentes estados emocionales y, además, emular fenómenos de contagio emocional. Estos modelos permitirán realizar simulaciones complejas basadas en emociones y aplicaciones más realistas en dominios como IoT, AIm, SH.Over the past few years, multi-agent systems (SMA) have proven to be a powerful and versatile paradigm, with great potential for solving complex problems in dynamic and distributed environments. This potential is not primarily due to their individual characteristics (such as their autonomy, their capacity for perception, reaction and reasoning), but also the ability to communicate and cooperate in achieving a goal. In fact, its social capacity is the one that draws the most attention, it is this social behavior that gives potential to multi-agent systems. These characteristics have made the SMA, the artificial intelligence (AI) tool most used for the design of intelligent virtual environments (IVE), which are complex agent-based simulation tools. However, IVE incorporates physical constraints (such as gravity, forces, friction, etc.), as well as a 3D representation of what you want to simulate. Also, these tools are not only used for simulations. With the emergence of new applications such as \emph {Internet of Things (IoT)}, \emph {Ambient Intelligence (AmI)}, robot assistants, among others, which are in direct contact with humans. This contact poses new challenges when it comes to interacting with these applications. A new form of interaction that has aroused a special interest is that which is related to the detection and / or simulation of emotional states. This has allowed these applications not only to detect our emotional states, but also to simulate and express their own emotions, thus improving the user experience with those applications. In order to improve the human-machine experience, this thesis aims to create social emotional models, which can be used in MAS applications, allowing agents to interpret and / or emulate different emotional states, and emulate phenomena of emotional contagion. These models will allow complex simulations based on emotions and more realistic applications in domains like IoT, AIm, SH.Al llarg dels últims anys, els sistemes multi-agent (SMA) han demostrat ser un paradigma potent i versàtil, amb un gran potencial a l'hora de resoldre problemes complexos en entorns dinàmics i distribuïts. Aquest potencial no es deu principalment a les seues característiques individuals (com són la seua autonomia, la seua capacitat de percepció, reacció i de raonament), sinó que també a la capacitat de comunicació i cooperació a l'hora d'aconseguir un objectiu. De fet, la seua capacitat social és la que més crida l'atenció, és aquest comportament social el que dota de potencial als sistemes multi-agent. Aquestes característiques han fet dels SMA, l'eina d'intel·ligència artificial (IA) més utilitzada per al disseny d'entorns virtuals intel·ligents (IVE), els quals són eines de simulació complexa basades en agents. No obstant això, els IVE incorporen restriccions físiques (com gravetat, forces, fregaments, etc.), així com una representació 3D del que es vol simular. Així mateix, aquestes eines no són només utilitzades per a la realització de simulacions. Amb l'aparició de noves aplicacions com \emph{Internet of Things (IOT)}, \emph{Ambient Intelligence (AmI)}, robot assistents, entre altres, les quals estan en contacte directe amb l'ésser humà. Aquest contacte planteja nous reptes a l'hora d'interactuar amb aquestes aplicacions. Una nova forma d'interacció que ha despertat un especial interès, és el que es relaciona amb la detecció i/o simulació d'estats emocionals. Això ha permès que aquestes aplicacions no només puguen detectar els nostres estats emocionals, sinó que puguen simular i expressar les seues pròpies emocions millorant així l'experiència de l'usuari amb aquestes aplicacions. Per tal de millorar l'experiència humà-màquina, aquesta tesi planteja com a objectiu principal la creació de models emocionals socials, els quals podran ser utilitzats en aplicacions MAS permetent als agents interpretar i/o emular diferents estats emocionals i, a més, emular fenòmens de contagi emocional. Aquests models permetran realitzar simulacions complexes basades en emocions i aplicacions més realistes en dominis com IoT, AIM, SH.Rincón Arango, JA. (2018). Social Emotions in Multiagent Systems [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/98090TESISCompendi

From Autonomy to Accountability: Envisioning AI’s Legal Personhood

This paper critically examines the concept of granting legal personhood to artificial intelligence (AI) systems, addressing the challenges and implications within the context of evolving legal and societal frameworks. It navigates through the historical understanding of personhood, the ethical considerations posed by advanced AI capabilities, and the philosophical underpinnings of AI’s potential roles and responsibilities in society. By proposing a hypothetical scenario where AI is recognized with specific legal attributes, the study highlights the need for dynamic legal frameworks, international collaboration, and ethical AI development to ensure laws remain relevant and effective. The conclusion advocates for a multidisciplinary approach to crafting adaptable legal structures that acknowledge AI’s unique contributions to society while safeguarding human dignity and societal welfare, urging forward-looking policies that balance technological innovation with ethical and legal integrity

Interrogating Boundaries against Animals and Machines: Human Speciesism in British Newspapers

Humans favor and venerate their ingroups, while disregarding outgroups to the degree of dehumanizing them. We explore the social construction of such boundaries and its associated speciesism toward two nonhuman outgroups: animals and machines. For this, we analyzed UK newspaper coverages of the binaries Human–Animal and Human–Machine between 1995 and 2010. We quantified if and how tolerance toward ambiguous concepts that challenge and expand definitions of humanness (e.g., nonhuman primates, cyborgs) varied across time as well as with journalist gender, political leaning, and expertise. In this analysis, the ca. 1100 individual journalists stood as proxies for the British public and therefore as a human-ingroup subset. We found more tolerance toward intermediaries in broadsheet newspapers, females, and subject experts, as opposed to tabloids, males, and subject novices. Moreover, ambiguity tolerance hit a low during the year 2000, likely due to Western sociopolitical turbulence—potentially including wider societal stress over the landmark millennium year itself—attesting that ingroups become more closed during stressful times. Compared with the plasticity of the Human–Animal dichotomy, the Human–Machine binary was more rigid, indicating that the relative novelty of IT developments triggers increased caution and anxiety. Our research suggests that cognitive mechanisms facilitating human-ingroup protection are deep-rooted, albeit malleable according to changing socioeconomic conditions

A novel greeting selection system for a culture-adaptive humanoid robot

Robots, especially humanoids, are expected to perform human-like actions and adapt to our ways of communication in order to facilitate their acceptance in human society. Among humans, rules of communication change depending on background culture: greetings are a part of communication in which cultural differences are strong. Robots should adapt to these specific differences in order to communicate effectively, being able to select the appropriate manner of greeting for different cultures depending on the social context. In this paper, we present the modelling of social factors that influence greeting choice, and the resulting novel culture-dependent greeting gesture and words selection system. An experiment with German participants was run using the humanoid robot ARMARIIIb. Thanks to this system, the robot, after interacting with Germans, can perform greeting gestures appropriate to German culture in addition to a repertoire of greetings appropriate to Japanese culture

A Novel Greeting Selection System for a Culture-Adaptive Humanoid Robot

Robots, especially humanoids, are expected to perform human-like actions and adapt to our ways of communication in order to facilitate their acceptance in human society. Among humans, rules of communication change depending on background culture: greetings are a part of communication in which cultural differences are strong. Robots should adapt to these specific differences in order to communicate effectively, being able to select the appropriate manner of greeting for different cultures depending on the social context. In this paper, we present the modelling of social factors that influence greeting choice, and the resulting novel culture-dependent greeting gesture and words selection system. An experiment with German participants was run using the humanoid robot ARMAR-IIIb. Thanks to this system, the robot, after interacting with Germans, can perform greeting gestures appropriate to German culture in addition to a repertoire of greetings appropriate to Japanese culture

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion