The Sketch-a-Net program successfully identified a seagull, pigeon, flying bird and standing bird better than humans. (Credit: QMUL, Mathias Eitz, James Hays and Marc Alexa)
Microsoft wants Cortana to be the Alfred to your Batman — handling your communications and attending to your needs. We get up close and personal with one of the most human-like artificial-intelligence interfaces ever made.
There was no one standing beside Chimp with a joystick, manipulating the robot’s every movement. Instead, Chimp’s head and body are packed with cameras, sensors and processors that allow it to generate a 3D model of its environment, which it sends back to a control team. “If it is a task that is familiar, we can say ‘grab that drill or turn that valve’,” says Tony Stentz, a Carnegie Mellon university professor who runs Chimp. Or to put it more bluntly, the robot was making many of the decisions itself.
At the 5-star Henn-na Hotel in Japan, robots welcome guests at reception, carry their bags and even do the cleaning.
A trio of Nao robots has passed a modified version of the “wise man puzzle” and in so doing have taken another step towards demonstrating self-awareness in robotics. The feat was demonstrated at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York to the press prior to a presentation to be given at next month’s RO-MAN conference in Kobe, Japan.
It’s nothing to get too excited or alarmed about, but a robot has passed a modified version of the classic King’s Wise Men Test. It’s another classic case of simulation rather than emulation, but the experiment shows how artificial self-awareness can be programmed into our technology.
“‘The solution is to have people become better people and use technology for good,’ she said. ‘Texting is dangerous. People text while driving, which leads to accidents, but no one says, ‘Let’s remove texting from cell phones.’” Read more
Businessman insists hotel, with no human workers, is not a gimmick and will cut operating costs.
“Since robots don’t have responsibility, humans are the ones responsible for what robots do. However, as robots become more prevalent, it will increasingly appear as if they actually have their own autonomy and intentions, for which it will seem they can and should be held responsible.” Read more
