Debate: How to live with robots. Artificial intelligence, real dilemmas


Friday 10th May | 8:00 p.m. | Luna A
Debate: How to live with robots. Artificial intelligence, real dilemmas after the screening of "Hi, A.I." by Isa Willinger
In Polish only
Partner: Jutronauci magazine (Gazeta Wyborcza)

Why is it that when a robot is staring at us, we tend to avert our gaze despite knowing it’s just a machine? The authors of Hi, A.I. throw us headfirst into this odd sensation in the first minutes of the movie. Why do we find it hard to bear? Is it because appearances are as important in the case of robots as with people? Robots can be ugly or cute, after all. They can also be smart or stupid. What roles do they play for us humans? Are they merely domestic helpers and tireless performers of unpleasant and monotonous tasks? If yes, then shouldn’t they be paying taxes to support those who can no longer make a living cleaning offices or tightening bolts in a factory? If they do end up working alongside humans, how should we normalize our relations? Wouldn’t you feel odd taking extra time for lunch while your “colleague” works without a pause? And what if robots eventually become our partners to go for a walk, grab a brew, or sleep with? The American protagonist of Hi, A.I. starts a relationship with a female robot and takes her on a journey. If we accept a robot can have a personality, is it possible that we could hurt it? And could it hurt us?

Guests: 
Leon Ciechanowski – studies Human-Computer Interaction, phenomenology, and sense of agency/control. Cognitivist, philosopher, culture scholar. Graduate of Philosophy Studies in English and Cultural Studies at the University of Warsaw, as well as Inter-University Studies at the Artes Liberales Academy. 

Michał Marczak – movie director, screenwriter, cinematographer. His latest movie, All These Sleepless Nights, won the directing award at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Dazed and Confused listed the groundbreaking Fuck For Forest (screened at the 10th Millennium Docs Against Gravity) among the 10 most innovative documentaries of the recent times. Marczak is currently working on a science fiction movie featuring artificial intelligence and its relationship with humankind.

Petros Psyllos – electronics specialist, programmer, freelancer, trainer, science promoter, entrepreneur. His R&D work involves the uses of artificial intelligence. The US edition of Forbes magazine counted him among the top 30 European innovators, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Review listed him as one of the 10 most talented young inventors in Poland.

Moderator: 
Vadim Makarenko – Gazeta Wyborcza journalist covering groundbreaking events and trends in the media, entertainment industry, and marketing. His pieces published in the Duży Format magazine, Templariusze Coca-Coli [The Coca-Cola Templars] and Szpieg prawdę ci powie [The Spy will Tell You the Truth], were nominated to the Grand Press Prize. Capitalism Secret Service is his first book.