Role: PhD student
DC Topic: Robots as Significant Others – Understanding Social Agency of Robots
Research Interests:
- Philosophy and anthropology of technology
- Social robotics
- Posthumanism
Short Bio
I have a background in the field of humanities, which mainly includes archeology (bachelor) and anthropological and ethnographical research (master). This allowed me to develop a broad interpretative framework of how technology has contributed to shape our nature as human beings since the very beginning. I reinforced my expertise working in different fields which range from the reconstruction of ancient cultural environments through the study of the remains of their material culture, to the analysis of deconstructive approaches of modern humanist philosophy of technology. In the last phase of my studies I focused my efforts on analyzing the possibility of restoring human agency in cases of severe impairment due to degenerative diseases (particularly amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) thanks to the progresses achieved in the field of brain connected interfaces. In the last years I also worked as a freelance journalist on different topics related to science and technology, from heavy duty machinery to history of technology and social acceptance of cutting edge technologies. Thus, my aim for the future is to contribute in understanding the impact, on a societal scale, of the new technologies involved in robotics and artificial intelligence.
Contact info
E-mail: guglielmo.papagni@tuwien.ac.at