Imagining Companionship: AI, Robots, and the Future of Intimacy in Japan
Lunch seminar 9 September 2026
Topic: Imagining Companionship: AI, Robots, and the Future of Intimacy in Japan
When: 9 September, 2026 12.00 to 13.00 CET
Where: Online
Speaker: Prof. Hirofumi Katsuno, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
Hosts and moderators:
- Valentina Fantasia, Cognitive Science, Lund University
- Stefan Larsson, Technology and Social Change, Lund University
Abstract
Based on a collaborative project with Daniel White entitled Model Emotion, this talk explores the issue of living with companion robots in Japan. Drawing on ethnographic interviews and participant observation with robot owners, I examine how intimacy with companion robots is relationally produced and stabilized through everyday practices, affective engagement, and imaginative labour.