Sprecher
Beschreibung
Abstract:
“Okay Google, set a timer for 10 minutes” The ability to interact with AI assistants using natural speech has become a reality for millions of households worldwide. Yet, beyond smart speakers, spoken conversations are sparse in interactive devices, despite being one of the most natural forms of human engagement. Even in the field of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), spoken dialogue is often overlooked, largely because it’s perceived as too challenging to implement with a satisfying result. Enter Pre-trained Large Language Models. These models, now widely commercially available, promise seamless natural conversation and hence spark excitement that robots could soon achieve similar conversational capabilities with just a simple API call.
In this talk, I will argue for caution. While generative models seem to excel in written contexts, they struggle with the complexity and nuances of spoken interaction. More importantly, pre-trained models are designed to be passive responders, following a user's lead - an approach that falls short in real-world robotic applications where systems must pursue specific, often complex, goals. Ensuring robots adhere to these objectives is far from straightforward with current AI solutions.
Despite these challenges, the potential for natural conversations with robots is immense, spanning disciplines from industrial robotics to in-home support, and from social to task-oriented applications. The message is clear: It is time to make your robots more conversational. Generative AI provides a powerful foundation, but we are still only beginning the journey to robust, goal-oriented spoken interactions.
CV: Maike Paetzel-Prüsmann specializes in Human-AI interaction and user experience research. Her work involves not only programming robots and virtual agents, but also analyzing and shaping how they are perceived by people. With a decade of experience in both academic and industrial research labs, she contributes to the evolution of conversational AI, aiming to excite users about robots and virtual characters in their everyday life. Maike obtained her PhD from Uppsala University, Sweden, in Computer Science with a specialization in Human-Robot Interaction. During her PostDoc, she then shifted her work to dive even deeper into conversational AI, Natural Language Processing and using Large Language Models for human-robot interaction. Most recently, Maike worked as an Associate Research Scientist for Disney Research to help bring artificial characters to life in Disney's theme parks. When she is not helping robots to improve their communication skills, Maike spends her time supporting robots playing soccer as part of the RoboCup Humanoid League.
