Anthroporobotics, tenth-generation robotics and human dwelling

a conversation with Humberto Maturana

Abstract

Reflections on robotics and cognition are often formulated within representationalist paradigms that obscure the processes through which systems operate. This conversation explores an alternative perspective, seeking to think about and design machines without relying on semantic notions that mask their operational dynamics, and Instead emphasizing the distinction between the domains of existence of different types of systems. In the Interview, Humberto Maturana reflects on the possibility of conceiving robots capable of languaging and emotioning In such a way that an observer could distinguish In them a self-conscious operation, while operating with full autonomy. The dialogue outlines a form of metadesign that articulates operational principles with ethical and onto-epistemological criteria, Including objectivity In parentheses and loving understood as the acceptance of the other. In the preface accompanying the Interview, I situate this conversation within the historical arc of robotics and modern technological civilization, and Introduce anthroporobotics as a transdisciplinary field proposed here, offering keys both for the design of artificial systems and for reflecting on our relationship with the robotic.

Submission: Mar 12, 2026 ⊶ Accepted: May 19, 2026