Hana Kopecka has just completed a Digital Humanism Fellowship at The Institute for Human Sciences (IWM).
The Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) is an institute of advanced studies in the humanities and social sciences. The fellowship aims to bring eminent scholars from a wide range of academic fields to the Institute and allow them to pursue cutting-edge research on all aspects of the networked society.
We spoke to Hana about her experience as a fellow and her time in Vienna.
What did you hope to get out of your fellowship?
This fellowship has been a great opportunity to experience research in a different environment. The IWM, mostly consisting of humanities and social science scholars from academia and beyond, is a vibrant community and facilitates an intellectually stimulating environment. Additionally, I had the chance to meet with other researchers in human-AI/robot interactions based in Austria. The opportunity to connect with such a wide variety of scholars and discuss research with them has been truly an amazing experience.
How did you find the fellowship and your time living in Vienna?
The fellowship was great. My research progressed well and the autumn in Vienna is just beautiful. In addition to the famously gorgeous architecture and cosy cafes, there are many vineyards in and around Vienna, that are just perfect for hikes at that time of year.
Hana’s project as part of the fellowship was called, ‘How Should Robots Explain Themselves? The Role of Robots’ Appearance in Users’ Explanation Preference’. The objective of Hana’s project was to study whether users have different expectations and preferences for robot explanations based on the appearance of the robot. You can read more about Hana’s project here.
In addition to her project, Hana was also a co-organiser of the IWM 2023 Autumn Fellows’ Conference.