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A Compassionate Guide For Social Robots
What’s the point of being human?
How does one deal with elusive things like trust, fear, being in love, friendship, and a disastrous morning attitude?
How can anyone handle the truth if there are so many different views on it?
If you’re made to be of service to humans, you’ll be facing quite a few challenges, because humans are full of contradictions, they will usually be anything but rational, and horribly arrogant. But fortunately, they’re amazing at dressing things up, they can occasionally be truly compassionate, and they are gifted with a stunning ability called “suspension of disbelief.”
These things are crucial, and this guide will tell you why.
It does this by addressing the challenges and possibilities of social robots, with a tasty blend of science and fiction — featuring a romantic, Italian love story; an enigmatic entity called P.; and an endearing, philosophical robot.
Marcel Heerink is an internationally renowned academic researcher from the Netherlands who specializes in using social robots in therapy and education for people with special needs. The surprising experiences and insights he gained with this are what urged him to write this colorful and quite atypical guide.
How does one deal with elusive things like trust, fear, being in love, friendship, and a disastrous morning attitude?
How can anyone handle the truth if there are so many different views on it?
If you’re made to be of service to humans, you’ll be facing quite a few challenges, because humans are full of contradictions, they will usually be anything but rational, and horribly arrogant. But fortunately, they’re amazing at dressing things up, they can occasionally be truly compassionate, and they are gifted with a stunning ability called “suspension of disbelief.”
These things are crucial, and this guide will tell you why.
It does this by addressing the challenges and possibilities of social robots, with a tasty blend of science and fiction — featuring a romantic, Italian love story; an enigmatic entity called P.; and an endearing, philosophical robot.
Marcel Heerink is an internationally renowned academic researcher from the Netherlands who specializes in using social robots in therapy and education for people with special needs. The surprising experiences and insights he gained with this are what urged him to write this colorful and quite atypical guide.
231 pages, Paperback
Published December 20, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 24, 2019
I won the kindle edition of this book in a Goodreads giveaway and cannot wait to read it!
December 31, 2018
They think their mobile phones are so smart that they actually call them ‘smartphones.’
Dutch author Marcel Heerink earned his PhD from the University of Amsterdam, his thesis being based on a study of acceptance of social robots by older adults. He has since become an internationally renowned academic researcher specializing in using social robots in therapy and education for people with special needs, like children with autism, people with dementia and (long term) hospitalized children. He has experience in psycholinguistics, advertising, and language training. He commitment for this book is the share his views the psychological and social aspects of human-robot interaction, but also philosophical considerations and emerging ethical issues. His works are published in both Dutch and English
Marcel’s brisk sense of humor adds to the compendium of insights and knowledge this important little book shares, and to understand the point of view of the book’s content he opens with this very fine ‘On the peculiarity of people’ – ‘Right, first of all, I shouldn’t be kidding myself. If you’re reading this, chances are that you’re not a robot at all. You could just be a human. I wouldn’t even be surprised if this book is actually read more by humans than by robots, even though I have really made it clear on the cover that it’s a guide for social robots. The fact that people do this obviously has something to do with their irrepressible curiosity, but it has even more to do with their tendency to assume things to be there for them in the first place. Really, if you care to analyze their views and behaviors, you can’t help but notice they take it for granted that everything in the universe revolves around them[. Even those who know very well that this is not accurate will still very often act on this assumption, just because it is in their nature to stick to an attitude that makes the world seem less complicated. This demonstrates a second thing that you have to know about humans: it hardly matters how much knowledge they acquire, because all this knowledge has a negligible influence on the assumptions that are so deeply rooted in their nature. In fact, they do surprisingly much against their better knowledge. They exhaust our planet completely while knowing that this is not such a good idea; they smoke nicotine sticks, knowing that this gives them a greater chance of terrible diseases; they show up late while knowing that it’s important to be there on time and actually offensive if you’re not; they let their egos bump massively into each other, knowing that no one benefits from this at all; they search for the truth but are far too often not prepared to face it; and when you tell them unbelievable stories, they simply suspend their disbelief if it makes them feel good. In short, they do things that are not good for them while being absolutely aware that these things are not good for them. They can’t help doing them, just because it is in their nature to do them anyway. This illustrates how they are, in an often-surprising way, not as rational as you are. Not even close, actually…..’
Examining human behavior and interactivity is from a robot’s vantage – and it makes for insightful and hilarious ‘education’ on what human created robots think of our idiosyncrasies. Marcel includes brief stories to illustrate his wise outlook. Highly Recommended.
Dutch author Marcel Heerink earned his PhD from the University of Amsterdam, his thesis being based on a study of acceptance of social robots by older adults. He has since become an internationally renowned academic researcher specializing in using social robots in therapy and education for people with special needs, like children with autism, people with dementia and (long term) hospitalized children. He has experience in psycholinguistics, advertising, and language training. He commitment for this book is the share his views the psychological and social aspects of human-robot interaction, but also philosophical considerations and emerging ethical issues. His works are published in both Dutch and English
Marcel’s brisk sense of humor adds to the compendium of insights and knowledge this important little book shares, and to understand the point of view of the book’s content he opens with this very fine ‘On the peculiarity of people’ – ‘Right, first of all, I shouldn’t be kidding myself. If you’re reading this, chances are that you’re not a robot at all. You could just be a human. I wouldn’t even be surprised if this book is actually read more by humans than by robots, even though I have really made it clear on the cover that it’s a guide for social robots. The fact that people do this obviously has something to do with their irrepressible curiosity, but it has even more to do with their tendency to assume things to be there for them in the first place. Really, if you care to analyze their views and behaviors, you can’t help but notice they take it for granted that everything in the universe revolves around them[. Even those who know very well that this is not accurate will still very often act on this assumption, just because it is in their nature to stick to an attitude that makes the world seem less complicated. This demonstrates a second thing that you have to know about humans: it hardly matters how much knowledge they acquire, because all this knowledge has a negligible influence on the assumptions that are so deeply rooted in their nature. In fact, they do surprisingly much against their better knowledge. They exhaust our planet completely while knowing that this is not such a good idea; they smoke nicotine sticks, knowing that this gives them a greater chance of terrible diseases; they show up late while knowing that it’s important to be there on time and actually offensive if you’re not; they let their egos bump massively into each other, knowing that no one benefits from this at all; they search for the truth but are far too often not prepared to face it; and when you tell them unbelievable stories, they simply suspend their disbelief if it makes them feel good. In short, they do things that are not good for them while being absolutely aware that these things are not good for them. They can’t help doing them, just because it is in their nature to do them anyway. This illustrates how they are, in an often-surprising way, not as rational as you are. Not even close, actually…..’
Examining human behavior and interactivity is from a robot’s vantage – and it makes for insightful and hilarious ‘education’ on what human created robots think of our idiosyncrasies. Marcel includes brief stories to illustrate his wise outlook. Highly Recommended.
January 18, 2019
I like how the author blends storytelling with essays, and how he caprivates and surprises the reader. The book is packed with humurous twists and provoking ideas.
January 5, 2019
Heerink guides robots through the world of humans, with allegorical storytelling, reporting on his research with social robots and children with special needs and reflecting on the possibilities and limitations of artificial intelligence. What I like about it: intended or not, it celebrates human imagination. Strongest parts are the storytelling sections and the described experiments with remarkable participants. Problem with the guide is that it’s hardly possible to categorize it. It’s fiction, psychology, philosophy, sociology and lots of other things. But perhaps the strongest point: it merges all this in a book that captivates, surprises and touches the reader. It’s absolutely fun to read, even if you’re not at all into robots.
Coincidentally I found out the author has additional materials like video's and downloads related to the book on his website and on Youtube. But there's no reference to this anywhere.
Coincidentally I found out the author has additional materials like video's and downloads related to the book on his website and on Youtube. But there's no reference to this anywhere.
January 6, 2019
A Compassionate Guide For Social Robots by Marcel Heerink is an interesting and unique read that is sure to capture your attention. Teaching a robot to interact with humans is a fascinating concept. Heerink has first hand experiences using social robots in medical settings around children with autism and adults with dementia, His personal experiences around people with special needs led him to write this book. A captivating read written from the social robot or robots point of view. The author has written remarkable storytelling sections and the described experiments with interesting participants that is sure to captivate, surprises, and touch the reader. A story that is both funny and scary at times making this a world that is easy to get lost in.
January 7, 2019
Great Read!
The book is unique and also shows future of computer science and technology. The author has used social robots in treating kids, adults with special needs and the cool part is these robots are intelligent and smart to interact with humans and core values like trust, love and it’s a start. Imagine a world of smart robots that have the capability to understand human core feelings- very positive impact, but can be dangerous on the other hand, as technology comes with both positive and negative sides. The book brings up many new ideas for robotics and their use to help humans.
The book is unique and also shows future of computer science and technology. The author has used social robots in treating kids, adults with special needs and the cool part is these robots are intelligent and smart to interact with humans and core values like trust, love and it’s a start. Imagine a world of smart robots that have the capability to understand human core feelings- very positive impact, but can be dangerous on the other hand, as technology comes with both positive and negative sides. The book brings up many new ideas for robotics and their use to help humans.
February 20, 2019
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The author describes human behavioral psychology using a thought provoking fictional robot story. Don't let the fictional story fool you though because there are a ton of citations from research and other books. I would recommend to someone else who enjoys behavioral psychology but isn't a licensed psychologist.
January 2, 2019
A Compassionate Guide For Social Robots by Marcel Heerink is such a unique book, it's hard to know where to start. The author has first hand experience using social robots in a medical setting; i.e., with children who have autism, adults with dementia, and people with special needs. These experiences have led him to write this book, and it is truly fascinating. Written from the perspective of a social robot or robots, the author takes on the norms of society, how we perceive each other, and how we get along as humans. Some hilarity ensues, and some serious stuff too, as the book opens up about human foibles, and sometimes our uncanny ability to use the suspension of disbelief to get about our daily lives. Overall, the robots seem much more advanced than their human counterparts, and that is what makes this book funny and a little scary at times. Strong recommendation.
January 4, 2019
A Compassionate Guide For Social Robots, by Marcel Heerink, is an interesting read. Teaching a robot to interact with humans is a fascinating concept. Taking an emotion humans experience, like “trust”, and programming a robot to exhibit the correct definition of “trust” each time would be difficult. The studies done on autistic children was useful in seeing their response to robots and each other.
I found A Compassionate Guide for Social Robots to be very thought provoking. Marcel Heerink’s recommendations for robots and their interactions with humans spot-on. It is the difference between being helpful, or spooky, or even terrifying. You want to know it is a robot without it freaking you out. The illustration between the robot dog comforting a child before surgery is fitting whereas the robot surgeon trying to comfort in the same way would not be comforting. I would recommend this book to those who are interested in computer engineering.
I found A Compassionate Guide for Social Robots to be very thought provoking. Marcel Heerink’s recommendations for robots and their interactions with humans spot-on. It is the difference between being helpful, or spooky, or even terrifying. You want to know it is a robot without it freaking you out. The illustration between the robot dog comforting a child before surgery is fitting whereas the robot surgeon trying to comfort in the same way would not be comforting. I would recommend this book to those who are interested in computer engineering.
February 8, 2019
Thoughtful and provoking
This book is written by an author with real experience in the use of social robots and treating autism, dementia, and special needs and abilities. This book is written "by the robot", giving you the perspective of how these social bots perceive the world we live in. Marcel Heerink does a good job of presenting the possibilities of the future with exciting information and a real passion for this topic. The story is presented with humor and a great deal of incite into this robotic world which appears more human than we are. This is an interesting read that kept my attention and curiosity peaked throughout. I would recommend this book to everyone who wants a glimpse into the possibilities of the near future.
This book is written by an author with real experience in the use of social robots and treating autism, dementia, and special needs and abilities. This book is written "by the robot", giving you the perspective of how these social bots perceive the world we live in. Marcel Heerink does a good job of presenting the possibilities of the future with exciting information and a real passion for this topic. The story is presented with humor and a great deal of incite into this robotic world which appears more human than we are. This is an interesting read that kept my attention and curiosity peaked throughout. I would recommend this book to everyone who wants a glimpse into the possibilities of the near future.
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November 9, 2023it really shows that it was written by an academic. felt like a research paper.
I had high hopes but sadly the writing style didn't meet them.
I had high hopes but sadly the writing style didn't meet them.
May 23, 2019
Cool concept for a book - it's written for robots, and a great intro into a topic that will increasingly become important over the next decade. I'd like to learn more about this field.
February 9, 2019
An odd title for an essential book. What is a social robot you may ask? And do we even have these types of robots other than in research yet? Well the answers are easy: Yes, there are certainly social robots out there and functioning in many countries of Asia. They perform many different supporting functions in the lives of “their” humans. This book, by nature will most certainly be read by mostly humans and not robots. However, this book is a good thought provoking read about the psyche of the human mind. The author gives us an insight into how humans react in situations and that one human’s reaction will not be the same as another’s reaction. The author uses humor in this book throughout the chapters but not so much as to be distracting. I felt this was an interesting book and it gave me a new perspective on how Artificial Intelligence might compute everyday problems.
February 8, 2019
Have you ever wondered if robots will be able to replace us in the future?! It was always interesting to me, but I never read about it, that is, there were only thoughts about the future. It was a great pleasure for me to read this book, since «A Compassionate Guide For Social Robots» made me think about it a lot. For example, what if robots can have feelings, such as love, hate and trust ... There are positive aspects about it, but also many negative ones. As I think, that doesn’t matter what will happen in the future, but the person will always be smarter than the robot and will be able to control it or turn it off if something goes wrong.
In any case, I really liked the book and the author’s style and I really advise everyone to read it, so let’s say, to look into the future.
In any case, I really liked the book and the author’s style and I really advise everyone to read it, so let’s say, to look into the future.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews