Paul Granjon, Guido and Am I Robot?

The research explores how robotic artworks can offer a non-utilitarian perspective on the potential of interaction between humans and intelligent machines, including non-benign aspects largely absent from the commercial and scientific social robotics fields.

From 2015-17 Granjon led an experiment in human robot interaction with two subsequent artworks that featured functional robots operating in public spaces. The artworks aimed at creating a platform for seamless natural interaction between the robot and the public and to playfully address pre-conceived ideas about intelligent machines. Evaluation of the ideas and techniques deployed in Guido the Robot Guide (2015) led to a more achieved iteration of the concept with Am I Robot (2016-17).

The output comprises six items:

GR101: the summary of the research narrative, including its 300-word statement;

GR102: a journal paper titled ‘This Machine Could Bite: On the Role of Non- Benign Art Robots’. Granjon explores the context and relevance of robotic art at a time when social robotics are reaching for mainstream applications.

GR103: an excerpt from the Luxembourg science-art exhibition catalogue Eppur Si Muove (Yet It Moves) displaying Guido the Robot Guide, a robotic artwork commissioned for the exhibition (2015-16).

GR104: an excerpt from the catalogue for the exhibition The Imitation Game at Manchester Art Gallery displaying Am I Robot, a robotic artwork commissioned by the gallery (2016).

GR105: a peer-reviewed conference paper titled Guido and Am I Robot? A Case Study of Two Robotic Artworks Operating in Public Spaces that was presented at and published in the proceedings of the International Conference on Live Interfaces 2018 in Porto, Portugal.

GR106: a video excerpt showing the robot Combover Jo from Am I Robot? in operation.