Negotiating anthropomorphism in the Ai-Da robot

International Journal of Social Robotics https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-021-00813-6 Negotiating anthropomorphism in the Ai-Da robot Bojana Romic1 Accepted: 25 June 2021 © The Author(s) 2021 Abstract The central interest of this paper is the anthropomorphic social robot Ai-Da (Aidan Meller Gallery/Oxford University), perceived as an actor in the interplay of cultural and representational gestures. These gestures determine how this robot is presented—that is, how its activities are articulated, interpreted and promoted. This paper criticises the use of a transhistorical discourse in the presentational strategies around this robot, since this discourse reinforces the so-called “myth of a machine”. The discussion focuses on the individuation and embodiment of this drawing robot. It is argued that the choice to provide Ai-Da with an evocative silicone face, coupled with an anthropomorphic body, is a socio-political decision that shapes public imaginaries about social robots in general. Keywords Robot · Anthropomorphism · Ai-Da · Robotic art · Drawing robot · Creativity 1 Introduction The research on anthropomorphism in social robots has received substantial attention [1–6]. Notably, Fong, Nourbakhsh, and Dautenhahn [7] provide a taxonomy of social robots and address anthropomorphism as a feature that helps the general public connect to robots, as it evokes users’ feelings and elicits nurturing behaviour. I adopt their definition of a social robot as a “socially interactive robot, for which social interaction plays a key role” ([7] p. 145), and this definition excludes teleoperated robots. I define a robot as an embodied artificial agent that can perform a series of actions automatically. The link between appearance and agency in an anthropomorphic social robot is a curious one, not only due to the uncanny valley effect,1 but also because it provokes some epistemological questions that prompt us to revisit the repository of cultural imaginings revolving around the figure of a The research is supported by the Strategy Group for EU-Coordination, represented by Vinnova. B Bojana Romic 1 School of Arts and Communication & MEDEA, Malmö University, Bassänggatan 2, 211 19 Malmö, Sweden 1 Masahiro Mori created a graph that shows how the sense of eeri- ness is enacted when experiencing an object or a robot that looks very human-like though not exactly the same. This sense increases with the unexpected behaviour of such an object or a robot [8]. robot [5,9,10]. In this paper, I observe a social robot from a holistic perspective, arguing that what the robot looks like (i.e., embodiment) and what the robot does (i.e., actions) are the features that shape its social presence and channel imaginings about social robots [11]. Additionally, the robot that I focus on—Ai-Da—is involved in the production of culture and belongs to a broader register of ”drawing robots”. It must be noted, however, that in a broad sense, all robots participate in the production of culture, because they are embedded in the social fabric and enable and sustain relationships and knowledge sharing. The robots that I mention in this paper participate in the production of artefacts in the domain of visual arts, with a special focus on drawing robots. I accept Hayles’ (1999; cf. [12]) assertion that physical embodiment is contextual, as it is interwoven with aspects of culture, place, time and physiology. This view of situated physical embodiment and its relation to agency rejects Cartesian mind/body dualism. Therefore, my approach to performativity and embodiment should be observed as two sides of the same coin, both shaping experiences about the drawing robots. I further acknowledge Winner’s [13] assumption that all technologies are inherently political, and I attempt to explore this statement using the Ai-Da robot as a case study. Using two pivotal points of investigation, individuation and embodiment, I embark on an inquiry that aims to answer this question: 123 International Journal of Social Robotics Fig. 1 Ai-Da at Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, 2019. Photo: Bojana Romic How anthropomorphism and transhistorical discourse affect the political presence of the Ai-Da robot? I will use discourse analysis to address the communicational strategy used by Aidan Meller, who finances the project and promotes the robot. The analysis will help the process of unpackinxg the hidden meanings used in this promotional strategy. In the following section, I provide a short historical account of the machines invested in cultural production. I then present the transhistorical view on artistic production and its critique from the art-historical perspective [1]. Next, I discuss the process of individuation and embodiment, relying mainly on Suchman’s [6,11] and Knox’s [14] inquiries that include a feminist perspective. I conclude with some recommendations. As for limitations, I do not evaluate the artistic quality of the artefacts created by Ai-Da. 2 About Ai-Da In this paper, I focus on the case of a robot that is portrayed as the “the world’s first ultra-realistic humanoid AI robot artist” (retrieved March 21, 2020 from ai-darobot.com). It was engineered by the Cornish robotics company Engineered Arts and further by a team from Leeds and Oxford University that developed the robot’s bionic hand [15]. The curator of the project is Lucy Seal. Ai-da has been described as “the brainchild” of Aidan Meller, a gallery director and art dealer 123 from Oxford [16]. Reportedly named after Ada Lovelace,2 the robot can independently create unique artefacts using traditional tools, such as pencils. Ai-Da tends to be invested in drawing portraits of people by using the cameras in its eyes and its bionic hand developed by the research team at Oxford University. The robot also participates in the production of paintings. In terms of appearance, Ai-Da’s body design communicates using the established iconic standards presented on film and media, as well as intertextually with other humanoid robots made in research laboratories, such as Hiroshi Ishiguro’s Geminoids, University of California San Diego’s Kokoro and Hanson Robotics’ Sophia. Unlike its hyper-realistic silicone face, Ai-Da’s torso and hands have wiring and pneumatic parts exposed, though nicely arranged in a human-like form, with moulded transparent shells that form the chest and hips. When the robot wears a garment, the clothes drape on its body as they would on a human. Currently, the dedicated website provides little information about the robot. To find more information and to gain access to the web gallery with Ai-Da’s drawings and paintings, the user needs to “join [the] Ai-Da online movement” (ai-darobot.com). It is unclear what this means, other than obtaining the visitors’ identities. Ai-Da has been chosen as a case study for several reasons, as follows: (a) The embodiment of the robot, with its recognisable facial semiotics, creates space for simulacrum and evocati (...truncated)