The project aimed at i) strengthening the interdisciplinary field of research on the emergence, understanding, and use of abstract concepts and words in human and human-AI interaction and ii) strengthening the research and innovation potential of the University of Warsaw within this field. For realization of these objectives University of Warsaw joined forces with three European leaders in research on abstraction (Roma La Sapienza), social bases for the emergence of communication (Aarhus University) and Human-AI interactions (University of Manchester).
Understanding that abstract concepts and words arise in interaction and for the purpose of human coordination has a transformative potential for the field of research on abstraction in ERA. This, in turn, may help us understand how various kinds of abstract systems – including digital technology – modify our human relationships. Adding the social-interactive dimension engages multiple viewpoints and new methodologies in the field of study: besides cognitive psychology and cognitive sciences, disciplines such as ecological psychology, anthropology, sociology or robotics. This is vital in a society, in which smart robotics and artificial intelligence play an increasingly important role and in the times when computational models are trusted with increasingly broad scopes of human activity. The awareness of the social and regulatory character of human knowledge systems, including conceptual knowledge, language, and formal systems will lead to a better understanding that “going computational” in AI-based technology development means efficiency but may also mean distancing from the important first-person human experiences and creating divides along the lines of technical skills.
Traincrease addresses these challenges by stabilizing the transformation of the field of research on abstract cognition from an individual to social dimension on the theoretical, methodological and empirical level. In six work packages the main challenges of the field were identified and methods were developed to study abstraction in embodied human and human-AI interactions. Preliminary ideas were tested within theoretical and empirical “Microtwinnings” (training projects for the University of Warsaw young researchers and staff in collaboration with the Partners). Results – in the form of new methods and training projects results, were presented in several conference special sessions, over 30 published works and multiple conference presentations. In parallel, Traincrease resources were engaged to transfer expertise and innovation on the research-management, administrative and educational levels to the University of Warsaw. A novel hub was created to connect researchers interested in the social-interactive genesis and impact of abstract systems, which strengthens the ERA in its striving for inclusive and responsible technological development.
