Kate Devlin on Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots

Taking a break from our nuclear fusion odyssey this week, I have
a very special episode for you today. This week, our guest is Dr
Kate Devlin. She’s a senior lecturer in computer science who
studies artificial intelligence and human-robot interaction, and
she wrote a magnificent book: Turned On, Science, Sex and Robots.
Now, the tagline is that the book is about love and sex with
robots – and there is a great deal of fascinating stuff in there
about that – but it’s also a wonderful history of humanoid
robotics, in reality and in fiction, and a great survey of the
academic research into human-robot interactions in general. As
artificial intelligence and chatbots become more omnipresent, and
also take on a bigger role in our culture, whole new fields of
psychology and sociology open up. We’ve already talked a little
about chatbots in past episodes, and Dr Devlin’s book was one of
the best and most entertaining works that I’ve read about
artificial intelligence and robots in a long time, so I was super
excited to get this interview.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Physical Attraction, and
many thanks to our guest, Dr Kate Devlin. You can find her book –
Turned On, Science, Sex and Robots – where-ever good books are
sold, but I also highly recommend the audiobook… if, like me,
you’re getting those monthly Audible credits, it’s wonderfully
narrated by the author. You can also find out more about her work
at www.drkatedevlin.com , and if you Google around, there are
some Ted Talks and things of that variety to keep you
entertained.

And now for our housekeeping. A reminder that I’m still planning
this 100th episode competition, but the due date is being
continually extended – send your answers to the question “What Is
Physics?” in text or audio format via the contact form on our
website, and you’ll be in with a chance to win books from some of
our previous interview guests and a place on the show.

The nuclear fusion series will be resuming shortly, and I can’t
wait to share it all with you, but I’m also not averse to
puncturing it with a few off-topic breaks now and then as a
palate-cleanser. But if you have any comments, questions, or
concerns about the show, you can contact us via the contact form
at www.physicspodcast.com, and you can find me on Twitter
@physicspod. If you want to support the show, we have a Patreon
account, at www.patreon.com/PhysicalAttraction – and I’ve
actually just put up some “b-sides”, there, shows that I recorded
but didn’t release for one reason or another, that subscribers
can now enjoy listening to – alongside all the bonus episodes on
Alien Attacks, Free Energy Scams, and failed
end-of-the-world-predictions. Of course, if you don’t want to
donate, the best thing you can do to support us is always always
to tell as many people about the show as you possibly can.

Until next time, then, take care!