Invited Talks

The following speakers have graciously agreed to give keynotes at PACLIC 2023.

Speaker: Enrico Santus

Talk title: Human-AI Collaboration & Adaptive Processes in Industry

Abstract: According to Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson, authors of “Human+Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI,” organizations are now going through a third wave of business transformation. The first wave started when Henry Ford deconstructed the manufacture of automobiles, standardizing processes. In the ’70s, the second wave targeted the automation of processes through information technology. The third wave, which started only recently, focuses on adaptive processes, where the optimization does not target the maximization of the efficiency of individual steps, but rather looks at the outcome more holistically, and the business impact. While many companies are using AI to automate processes, those that mainly deploy this technology to displace employees will see only short-term productivity gains. In a Harvard Business Review article Daugherty and Wilson shared that among 1,500 companies (https://hometownhealthonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ai2-R1804J-PDF-ENG.pdf) significant improvements are achieved by firms where humans and machines work together. Thanks to the introduction of Large Language Models (LLMs), AI is becoming more accessible to humans, who can use natural language to achieve goals that would have before required code. Moreover, LLMs broaden the scope of AI, covering not only labor intensive tasks, but also strategic and creative ones, such as design, marketing, customer service, and sales. Through collaborative intelligence, humans and AI actively complement and enhance one another’s strengths: the leadership, teamwork, creativity, and social skills of the former, and the speed, scalability, and quantitative capabilities of the latter.

In this talk, I will discuss how - also thanks to LLMs - the human-AI collaboration can be designed and optimized.

Affiliation: Bloomberg

Enrico Santus, a Sardinian native, embarked on an academic journey that led him to a doctorate in Computational Linguistics, supported by a prestigious fellowship. His pioneering research in deep learning took place at MIT’s CSAIL, and he later joined Bayer before becoming the Head of Human Computation at Bloomberg’s CTO office in New York, where he envisions the future of active learning and human-in-the-loop annotation. His work spans diverse fields, from fake news detection and healthcare data extraction to pharmaceutical research, and has earned recognition from institutions like the White House and the American Congress.

Speaker: Furhat Robotics

Talk title: From Breakdown to Breakthrough: Overcoming ‘Robot Death’ in Social Interactions

In this talk we embark on an exploratory journey into the evolving world of social robotics. This presentation will delve into the fascinating interplay between human perceptions and conversational technology, and how theories of anthropomorphism in robotics apply to conversational design. The focus will be on how thorough conversation our inherent tendency to ascribe human-like qualities to robots shapes our interaction with them. This tendency, while creating initial engagement, often leads to critical moments where the dialogue breaks down and the whole illusion of a “living machine” breaks down, resulting in a disconnection between the user and the robot.

At the heart of this discussion is the transformative role Large Language Models (LLMs) could play in revolutionising human-robot interactions. These advanced technologies promise to reshape our conversations with robots, offering a seamless, dynamic experience that goes beyond the confines of pre-programmed responses. The talk will explore how LLMs can bridge the gap between the mechanical nature of robots and the complex, nuanced demands of human interaction, thereby maintaining the ‘illusion of life’ that is so crucial for engaging experiences.

The presentation aims to provide a thought-provoking insight into how the integration of cutting-edge language models is setting the stage for a new era in social robotics—an era where robots are not just tools, but partners in a shared, interactive experience.