This tutorial provides a forum for open minded, but well-considered discussion regarding one of the most important long term technology issues facing our world today:" How will human interactions with robots change the way humans interact with each other?" There are many questions which can be considered under the auspices of this discussion. Several of these questions have recently made their entrée onto the public stage including: What kind of relationships are appropriate between humans and robots? What can be done to prevent robots from interfering with human relationships? Will robots become more human-like or will they evolve along an entirely different trajectory? Or perhaps will humans become more like robots?
Robots are supposed to make life better... Do they? Will they? Is our research directed primarily to improve life, or are we simply making new technology? How will this new technology change the way we view our human nature, our interactions with each other and our role in the world? Increasingly, the media and the general public are debating (and often sensationalizing) these issues with little understanding of the fundamental challenges of robotics in general or the last decade of research in human-robot interaction in particular. This tutorial will provide one of the first venues dedicated to harnessing the understanding and ingenuity of the research community as it pertains to these issues. The tutorial will educate the audience as well as provide a means for exchanging ideas. It will be appropriate for the public and media participation as well as providing a scholarly perspective on the art of the possible.