Kate Darling

Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab

Kate Darling is a leading expert in Robot Ethics. She’s a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, where she investigates social robotics and conducts experimental studies on human-robot interaction.

"A pioneer in the field of robot ethics and the intersection of technology and society"

Topics

Why We Have an Emotional Connection to Robot
Human-Robot Interaction and Empathy
Robot Ethics
Technology and Society
Law and Ethics
Artificial Intelligence

Languages

She presents in English.

How she presents

Dedicated to exploring the ever-expanding realm of human-robot interaction, leveraging Kate uses her expertise to uncover new possibilities. With an unwavering commitment to understanding the implications of this developing technology, she can offer insights into the exciting opportunities that come with this new era of human-robot interaction.

Publications

2017
Creativity without Law: Challenging the Assumptions of Intellectual Property
The New Breed: How to Think About Robots
2021
The New Breed: What Our History with Animals Reveals about Our Future with Robots

Talk to us about Kate Darling

In Detail

Forever interested in how technology intersects with society, Kate has a background in law & economics and intellectual property. She has researched economic incentives in copyright and patent systems and has taken a role as intellectual property expert at multiple academic and private institutions. She formerly served as intellectual property policy advisor to the director of the MIT Media Lab. Her passion for technology and robots has led her to interdisciplinary fields. After co-teaching a robot ethics course at Harvard Law School, she began to work at the intersection of law and robotics, with a focus on legal and social issues. Kate is a former Fellow at the Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and the Yale Information Society Project and is also an affiliate at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.

What she offers you

Kate explores the emotional connection between people and life-like machines, seeking to influence technology design and policy direction. She shares with her audience the economic issues in intellectual property systems and looks at the near-term effects of robotic technology, with a particular interest in law, social, and ethical issues.