Towards a Definition of Symbiotic Relations Between Humans and Machines

What are symbiotic systems? In this short paper, the workshop chairs describe the focus of this workshop and elaborate on the definition of symbiotic human-machine relation

Symbiotic Assembly Systems – A New Paradigm

AbstractAssembly systems have been pressed in recent years to provide highly adaptable and quickly deployable solutions in order to deal with unpredictable changes following market trends. This has led to the development of multiple paradigms, namely Flexible Assembly System, Holonic Assembly Systems, Evolvable Assembly Systems, Modular Assembly systems, etc. Mostly these focus on increasing availability of automation, however this focus has overshadowed the human element in assembly systems. The lack of a clear human element in these approaches resulted in non-necessary automation and increase complexity. This paper proposes a new paradigm of Symbiotic Assembly Systems (SAS) in order to integrate the human aspects into these developments. The motivation is human actors should be treated as an intrinsic component of assembly systems. This would result in a system that can take advantage of its component's individual strengths (human or machines), and create a symbiotic environment. Beyond machine automation, human interventions in the system need not only to be modelled as processes but also integrated into the whole system operation. The idea builds on biological systems and their ability to establish symbiotic environments resulting in optimal collaborations. This paper proposes the conceptual vision of Symbiotic Assembly Systems and identifies the necessary developments required to achieve such paradigm. Furthermore it reports on how the developments from other paradigms can be integrated into SAS. An illustrative example is presented to demonstrate the potential of this approach

Conceptualization of the Human-Machine Symbiosis – A Literature Review

The vision of a symbiotic partnership between humans and machines has existed since the 1960s. With this paper we provide the first conceptualization of the human-machine symbiosis (HMS) and make three important contributions: we present the fundamentals of HMS by focusing on objectives, requirements, and boundaries; we propose a framework for the design of HMS; and we review HMS research and, specifically, what the literature says with respect to whether HMS has already been achieved

Cognitive Machine Individualism in a Symbiotic Cybersecurity Policy Framework for the Preservation of Internet of Things Integrity: A Quantitative Study

This quantitative study examined the complex nature of modern cyber threats to propose the establishment of cyber as an interdisciplinary field of public policy initiated through the creation of a symbiotic cybersecurity policy framework. For the public good (and maintaining ideological balance), there must be recognition that public policies are at a transition point where the digital public square is a tangible reality that is more than a collection of technological widgets. The academic contribution of this research project is the fusion of humanistic principles with Internet of Things (IoT) technologies that alters our perception of the machine from an instrument of human engineering into a thinking peer to elevate cyber from technical esoterism into an interdisciplinary field of public policy. The contribution to the US national cybersecurity policy body of knowledge is a unified policy framework (manifested in the symbiotic cybersecurity policy triad) that could transform cybersecurity policies from network-based to entity-based. A correlation archival data design was used with the frequency of malicious software attacks as the dependent variable and diversity of intrusion techniques as the independent variable for RQ1. For RQ2, the frequency of detection events was the dependent variable and diversity of intrusion techniques was the independent variable. Self-determination Theory is the theoretical framework as the cognitive machine can recognize, self-endorse, and maintain its own identity based on a sense of self-motivation that is progressively shaped by the machine’s ability to learn. The transformation of cyber policies from technical esoterism into an interdisciplinary field of public policy starts with the recognition that the cognitive machine is an independent consumer of, advisor into, and influenced by public policy theories, philosophical constructs, and societal initiatives

Forth Industrial Revolution (4 IR) : digital disruption of cyber-physical systems

Article focus of the disruptive character of technological innovations brought by Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), withits unprecedented scale and scope, and exponential speed of incoming innovations, described from the point view of 'unintended consequences' (cross cutting impact of disruptive technologies across many sectors and aspects of human life). With integration of technology innovations emerging in number of fields including advanced robotics, pervasive computing, artificial intelligence, nano-and bio-technologies, additive and smart manufacturing, Forth Industrial Revolution introduce new ways in which technology becomes embedded not only within the society, economy and culture, but also within human body and mind (described by integration of technologies, collectively referred to as cyber-physical systems). At the forefront of digital transformation, based on cyber physical systems, stands Industry 4.0, referring to recent technological advances, where internet and supporting technologies (embedded systems) are serving as framework to integrate physical objects, human actors, intelligent machines, production lines and processes across organizational boundaries to form new kind of intelligent, networked value chain, called smart factory. Article presents broader context of 'disruptive changes (innovations)' accompanying 4IR, that embrace both economical perspective of 'broaderrestructuring' of modern economy and society (described in second part of the article as transition from second to third and forth industrial revolution), and technological perspective of computer and informational science with advances in pervasive computing, algorithms and artificial intelligence (described in third part of article with different stages of web development : web 1.0, web 2.0, web 3.0, web 4.0). What's more important, article presents hardly ever described in literature, psychological and philosophical perspective, more or less subtle reconfiguration made under the influence of these technologies, determining physical (body), psychological (mind) and philosophical aspect of human existence (the very idea of what it means to be the human), fully depicted in the conclusion of the article. The core element (novelty) is the attempt to bring full understanding and acknowledgment of disruptive innovations', that "change not only of the what and the how things are done, but also the who we are", moving beyond economical or technological perspective, to embrace also psychological and philosophical one

Re-writing the Bhabhian “Mimic Man”: Akin, the Posthuman Other in Octavia Butler’s Adulthood Rites

Cultural critics have sought to define the term posthuman1 as primarily a condition that does away with hierarchical forms of power and control. It recognizes a transformation of the human species into a subject position that moves from an oppositional politics of segregating the human “self” from the “other” to one of acknowledging the “other” as part of the human “self.” 2 With the advent of the posthuman condition comes the need to re-define human rights in a posthuman context. Octavia Butler’s science fiction novel Adulthood Rites3 introduces us to Oankali, gene-trading aliens who travel through space. They intercept and save the human species that is dying in a world ravaged by nuclear war. The Oankali mission of salvation has a hidden agenda,4 though: whoever opts to be saved needs to forgo the right to reproduce. Reproduction, in this new world where human beings are a salvaged species and not the predominant one, is on the terms laid out by the Oankali aliens. The terms of Oankali reproduction that start off with genetic modifications of the human Lilith, the Oankali nominated progenitor of the posthuman in Dawn, enforces the birth of a hybrid—a human-alien construct, Akin, who is related to both humans and aliens, the posthuman other. Built on a “postcolonial” definition of a “mimic man,”5 a product of what Bart Simon and Jill Didur call “critical posthumanism,”6 who sees the other in the self, Akin modulates and modifies his sense of agency and choice as he contends with complex political and ethical issues. Deployed as an Oankali informer among humans, Akin ultimately emerges as the savior, a spokesperson for the human species who adroitly balances contradictory roles in a culture seemingly “colonial” in its intent

RAF | A framework for symbiotic agencies in robotic – aided fabrication

The research presented in this paper utilizes industrial robotic arms and new material technologies to model and explore a different conceptual framework for ‘robotic-aided fabrication’ based on material formation processes, collaboration, and feedback loops. Robotic-aided fabrication as a performative design process needs to develop and demonstrate itself through projects that operate at a discrete level, emphasizing the role of the different agents and prioritizing their relationships over their autonomy. It encourages a process where the robot, human and material are not simply operational entities but a related whole. In the pre-actual state of this agenda, the definition and understanding of agencies and the inventory of their relations is more relevant than their implementation. Three test scenarios are described using human designers, phase-changing materials, and a six-axis industrial robotic arm with an external sensor. The common thread running through the three scenarios is the facilitation of interaction within a digital fabrication process. The process starts with a description of the different agencies and their potentiality before any relation is formed. Once the contributions of each agent are understood they start to form relations with different degrees of autonomy. A feedback loop is introduced to create negotiation opportunities that can result in a rich and complex design process. The paper concludes with speculation on the advantages and possible limitations of semi-organic design methods through the emergence of patterns of interaction between the material, machine and designer resulting in new vistas towards how design is conceived, developed, and realised

Human-robot collaborative assembly in cyber-physical production: Classification framework and implementation

The production industry is moving towards the next generation of assembly, which is conducted based on safe and reliable robots working in the same workplace alongside with humans. Focusing on assembly tasks, this paper presents a review of human-robot collaboration research and its classification works. Aside from defining key terms and relations, the paper also proposes means of describing human-robot collaboration that can be relied on during detailed elaboration of solutions. A human-robot collaborative assembly system is developed with a novel and comprehensive structure, and a case study is presented to validate the proposed framework. © 2017

Life Sustains Life 1. Value: Social and Ecological

I would like to address the question of social and ecological value by bringing two approaches to this question into conversation with one another and show their connections. The two approaches are those of Jonathan Schell and Akeel Bilgrami. The connection between the two approaches is their shared interest in the ‘conditions that sustain life’ on earth. The answer to the question of what are the conditions that sustain life is, in my opinion, ‘life sustains life’: that is, living ecological systems sustain themselves and the living systems with which they interact (symbiosis)