A model of this submit authentic appeared in TechCrunch’s weekly robotics publication, Actuator. It has been up to date to incorporate particulars a few new scholarship fund being raised in her honor.
I didn’t know Joanne Pransky personally, so when information of her dying broke late final month, I reached out to my LinkedIn followers, asking if any of them did. “Yes,” answered one, “didn’t everyone?” Over a long time of labor, Pransky has left an enduring impression on the business, bringing a uniquely human factor to conversations about robotics and automation.
“Joanne was the epitome of ‘Think Different,’” iRobot co-founder and Tertill CEO Helen Greiner instructed me over e mail. “She was a pioneer in calling attention to what robots would mean for society and what human society would mean for the robots.”
Pransky proudly adopted the title of “the world’s first real Robotic Psychiatrist,” devoting herself to behave as a conduit between people and robots. “My ultimate goal is to help people understand their emotional, social and psychological responses to robotic technologies,” she wrote in her official bio, “which are bound to proliferate in the coming years, impacting every aspect of their lives.”
Sometimes the job meant working with builders to search out methods to adapt programs to human society. Other occasions it meant convincing people that robots aren’t the menace that a long time of science fiction have made them out to be. Those conversations introduced her to levels like TEDx, “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” and a three-year gig as a choose on Comedy Central’s “BattleBots” competitors.
Sci-fi performed its personal key position in her mission assertion. Pransky excitedly recounted the story of assembly Isaac Asimov, which discovered her bringing the legendary author in control on real-world breakthroughs within the robotics discipline. During the assembly, Asimov deemed her “the real life Susan Calvin,” a reference to the robopsychologist character from the 1950 short-fiction assortment “I, Robot,” which served as inspiration for the Will Smith movie of the identical identify.
In an e mail, Texas A&M Department of Computer Science & Engineering professor Robin Murphy tells TechCrunch that regardless of Pransky ceaselessly and proudly recounting the story, the comparability isn’t solely apt.
“Joanne was very proud that Isaac Asimov called her the real Susan Calvin, which was odd because Susan Calvin was unpleasant, a loner, never smiled, didn’t have a husband or a family — the opposite of Joanne,” writes Murphy. “But it makes sense — if there was one woman to represent what Asimov wanted robotics to be, versus a stock character, it would be Joanne.”
Murphy was the primary to announce the information of Pransky’s passing. In her tribute on Robohub, she notes, “Joanne was one of the first to really push what is now called human-centered robotics — that there is always a human involved in any robot system.”
You may be taught extra about Pransky in her personal phrases on her YouTube channel, RobotMD. This bit from her TEDx speak, Robot on the Couch, appears to sum up her mission assertion finest.
Robots can help us and enhance our lives in so some ways, however they won’t expertise the human situation. They won’t get butterflies of their abdomen from doing a TEDx speak. They won’t really feel euphoria from laughing so uncontrollably arduous that they cry. They won’t empathize with the human heartbreak that comes from dropping a cherished one. Robots aren’t the identical as us and we must always not use the identical terminology to characterize their responses. Attributing an expression equivalent to synthetic empathy to a machine could solely result in confusion and the idea that machines emote like us, particularly as our view of what’s synthetic, and what’s actual, turns into blurred. Humans be taught empathy from different people head to head.
This week, the non-profit group Women in Robotics quietly launched a scholarship in Pransky’s identify. The fund, which is at present soliciting donations by way of Bold.org, is concentrated on encouraging ladies and non-binary college students to pursue careers within the discipline of robotics.
“We have an online global community and local events in many cities that are centers for robotics. Robotics is a rapidly growing field and we need more women and underrepresented people in the robotics community,” the group notes. “Our first scholarship, the Joanne Pransky Celebration of Women in Robotics, is for undergraduates and incoming freshman, encouraging them to explore robotics courses.”
Andra Kaey, who serves because the group’s president, tells TechCrunch, “As a pioneer in the field of social robotics and the sales and marketing of robots and robotics journals, Joanne was very often the only woman in the room. She went out of her way to make other women newer to the field feel comfortable, and was one of the first members and supporters of the Women in Robotics organization. Joanne’s passion, her compassion for others, and her infectious joy in robotics will be missed. We hope that people will come visit The Joanne Pransky Museum of Social Robots in Oakland and donate to the Joanne Pransky Women in Robotics Scholarship, to support young women entering the robotics industry.”
…. to be continued
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