Katedra za družboslovno informatiko in metodologijo Fakultete za družbene vede Univerze v
Ljubljani vabi na gostujoče predavanje
dr. Sakarija Taipaleja
»Robot shift from production to reproduction«
v četrtek, 20. novembra 2014, ob 15.30 uri v predavalnici 22 na Fakulteti za družbene vede.
Prijazno vabljeni.
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The new wave of robots, the so-called social robots, stirs up diverse feelings among researchers
and the public. On the one hand, social robots are considered as a threat as robots may reduce
jobs and human-human interaction. On the other hand, robots have clear advantages as they may
compensate the deficiencies of human labour force, take care of repetitive, consuming and
dangerous tasks. This lecture begins by outlining the need for a social policy perspective to social
robot studies. Thereafter, I elaborate three topics by grounding my speech in the secondary
analyses of Eurobarometer 382 “Public Attitudes towards Robots” data (N=26,751) that was
collected from EU citizens aged 15 and over in 27 member states in 2012. Firstly, I will describe
how people’s willingness to accept (social) robots varies across life domains in Europe. Secondly, I
will show how European countries can be clusterized according to citizens’ attitudes toward robots.
Thirdly, I will depict how socio-demographic variables are associated with people’s willingness to
have robots in the area of social reproduction.
Dr. Sakari Taipale works as an Academy of Finland Research Fellow at the Department of Social
Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Taipale received his Ph.D. in Social and
Public Policy at the University of Jyväskylä in 2009. His doctoral research on new media and the
concept of social space was recognized with the 2009 Agora Award for Excellence for the best
dissertation in human technology at the university. In 2012, Taipale became Adjunct Professor at
the University of Eastern Finland. Taipale’s research interests include mobile communication,
mobilities, newspapers and the Internet. His most recent research projects deal with
intergenerational relations in ICT usage, social robot studies as well as with the materiality and
reuse of electronic waste. Taipale has published several research articles in journals, such as
British Journal of Sociology, New Media and Society, Information, Communication and Society,
Telematics and Informatics, Telecommunications Policy, European Journal of Communication,
Mobilities, and Journalism.