【智远讲坛第12期】悉尼科技大学Dikai Liu讲席教授：Rethinking the Human-Robot Relationship

As robotics and AI technologies continue to advance rapidly, the relationship between humans and robots (empowered with AI) is undergoing profound transformations. In this talk, the evolution of human-robot relationships will be reviewed. Technological advances, including the research conducted over the last 20 years at UTS, will be discussed. This talk will then discuss the dynamics of collaboration between humans and robots, examining issues such as trust, role change, human-centred design, computational modelling, and interface. To shape the future of human-robot relationships, many questions about ethical considerations, cultural perspectives, and regulations to govern the development and deployment of intelligent robotics technology will be discussed. Dikai Liu is a distinguished professor at the Robotics Institute of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and an IEEE RAS Distinguished Lecturer. He is Director of the ARC Research Hub for Human-Robot Teaming for Sustainable and Resilient Construction (2025-2030). He served as Co-Director of the UTS Centre for Autonomous Systems (2013-2019) and initiated and established the UTS Robotics Institute in 2019. His research interest lies in robotics, with a focus on field robotics and human-robot collaboration. In addition to conducting fundamental robotics research, he has been instrumental in transforming robotics research into real industry applications. Examples include autonomous robots for bridge maintenance, bio-inspired climbing robots for inspection of confined space, intelligent robotic co-worker for human-robot collaborative abrasive blasting, smart hoist for patient transfer, and autonomous robots for underwater structure maintenance. Since 2006, his research has received over 20 Best Paper and Research/Engineering Excellence awards, including the 2024 IEEE IROS Harashima Award, the 2019 UTS Medal for Research Impact, the 2019 ASME DED Leonardo da Vinci Award, and the 2016 Australian Engineering Excellence Awards (AEEA). His research has been featured by reputable newspapers and TV news channels, such as the BBC, ABC, SBS, TVBS (Taiwan), Sydney Morning Herald, 7News, AFR, and The Robot Report (USA).