About
I am an Senior Lecturer at the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. I have a PhD in Computer Science from Aalborg University, and I am a recipient of the UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub (TAS Hub) Early Career Researcher Award for my engagement and outreach activities.
My research focuses on autonomous and AI-infused systems, and how we can ensure that they are trustworthy and responsible, both in their design and development, as well as in their interaction with humans and other agents. I collaborate with various stakeholders from different disciplines, such as art, law, and medicine, to explore the impact and potential of autonomous systems in diverse contexts. I use qualitative and quantitative methods to study human-computer and robot interaction, interpersonal relationships, and ethical and social implications of introducing robots and AI into our lives.
Most recently, I have been exploring the impact of Generative AI, such as text-to-image models or large language models, on the general public. In particular, I am investigating their influence on the legal domain for non-legal experts or how they affect values associated with artistic creations.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Human-Computer and Robot Interaction
- Human-AI Interaction focusing on generative AI and its impact on society
- Multidisciplinary research in collaboration with, artists, medical professionals, and lawyers
Current research
Human-AI Interaction (Gen-AI): This research interest focuses on the impact of Generative AI, in particular text-to-image and large language models (LLM), on various domains. Specifically, I am investigating their impact on the general public in the legal domain (Project: REGALS. Role: PI) and creative professionals (Project: ARTificial Intelligence. Role: Co-I).
Public Engagement on AI: With the rapid distribution of autonomous systems and AI-enabled technology, it becomes increasingly relevant to involve a vast range of stakeholders. To this end, I strive to include public engagement activities in all my research, ultimately hoping to increase AI-literacy in the general public.
Research projects
Active projects
Completed projects
Publications
Teaching
Group Design Project (ELEC6200):
I am currently involved in the Group Design Projects as co-superviser of the first semester of fourth year students at ECS.
Biography
Dr Eike Schneiders is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton. His research focuses on Human-Computer/Robot Interaction (HCI/HRI) and Human-AI Interaction. He received his PhD in Computer Science (11/2022) from Aalborg University in Denmark, where he investigated, how the inclusion of robots influences interactions and collaborations within non-dyadic groups in the wild. Previous projects Eike has worked on include the investigation of personal assistant, domestic robots, as well as artist-led research. While he focuses on in-the-wild studies, he also conducts a variation of controlled studies (e.g., online or lab-based studies).
Most recently Eike has worked on several interdisciplinary projects as part of the TAS Hub and RAi UK. Examples include projects at the intersection between Medicine and ML, Law and AI, or Interactive art, AI, and animal welfare. Most prominently Eike is working on the Cat Royale project, and artist-led project that at first glance, might seem like a project about designing a robot to enrich the lives of a family of cats by playing with them. Under the surface, however, it explores the question of what it takes to trust a robot to look after our loved ones and potentially ourselves, and how we need to consider the wider “world” design when introducing robots into complex environments. The Cat Royale project has recently been awarded with the Webby award and has further resulted in a “Best Paper” (top 1%) and an “Honourable Mention” at the ACM CHI’24 conference.
His current research focuses on the impact of generative AI, including text-to-image models and large language models (LLMs), on the general public. In this regard he served as the PI on the TAS Hub funded REGALS project, which explores non-legal experts willingness to rely on LLM-generated legal advice. Additionally, he is a co-investigator on the ART-I project, which examines the effects of generative AI on creative communities.
Prizes
- UKRI TAS Hub Early Career Researcher Award: Public Engagement (2023)
- Best Paper Award (top 1%) at the ACM CHI 2024 Conference: Designing Multispecies Worlds for Robots, Cats, and Humans (2024)
- Honourable Mention Award at the ACM CHI 2024 Conference: Charting Ethical Tensions in Multispecies Technology Research through Beneficiary-Epistemology Space (2024)
- Honourable Mention Award at the TAS Symposium 2024: A Survey of Lay People's Willingness to Generate Legal Advice using Large Language Models (LLMs) (2024)
- Honourable Mention Award at the TAS Symposium 2023: TAME Pain: Trustworthy AssessMEnt of Pain from speech and audio for the empowerment of patients (2023)
- Webby Award: Cat Royale in the category "The Best of the Internet: AI, Metaverse & Virtual, Best Integrated Experience People's Voice Winner". (2024)
- The Foundation for Science and Technology: Awarded membership of the prestigious "Foundation Future Leaders Programme" 2024, (30 people country wide). (2024)