Enabling Human-Robot Collaboration via Argumentation

A case is made for logical argumentation as a means for enabling true collaboration between human and robot partners. The majority of human-robot systems involve interactions in which the robot is subordinate, and all high-level decision making is performed by the human. However, in order to enable human-robot partnerships, both parties must be able to participate in constructive dialogue where each party can present ideas, these are discussed, and a shared conclusion is agreed upon. Argumentation is a method that can support such needs, as outlined in this short paper.