Do Robots Have a Mind of Their Own?
Over the years, the film industry has aroused fear that the rise of robots and artificial intelligence would lead to a future where humans are no longer in control. The fear that robots one day may achieve singularity with humans and with everything humans create has spurred a desire to ensure that their intentions align with our own. But movies are what they are — movies. Robotics and AI prove to be much more than devices trying to take over the Earth.
Robots have been around since the 1950s, but it’s just been in recent years that robots have incorporated AI to make autonomous decisions. One of the best examples of this is Sophia, a human-like robot created by Hanson Robotics. Sophia, as described by Hanson, uniquely combines science, engineering, and artistry. Sophia was created to help in real uses such as medicine and education, and to serve AI research.
Sophia’s AI enables her to have human-like responses to any situation or interaction. She uses machine perception to recognize human faces, see emotional expressions, and recognize various hand gestures.
What’s unique about Sophia is that she can learn from the mistakes she makes, allowing her to develop and grow through her continued experiences. Sophia doesn’t technically think on her own, rather, she matches certain expressions and conversations with pre-loaded text and answers based on what’s appropriate. She learns this through a type of artificial intelligence called machine learning.
Machine learning allows software, such as one of Sophia’s algorithms, to become more accurate at predicting outcomes without being explicitly programmed to do so. For example, Sophia is given data of various facial expressions and is constantly tested to match the expression with an appropriate response. If she gives the wrong response to a situation, an error is flagged, and her algorithm is optimized to give better responses in the future.
But Sophia isn’t the only technology created to collaborate with humans and make life experiences better. Olly, a voice-controlled AI assistant created by Emotech also has an evolving personality. Olly is like the voice assistants Amazon Alexa or Google Home, but through machine learning, Olly can learn to understand its owner’s emotions. For example, Olly can recognize if you’ve had a tough day at work. If you lay your head on the table once you get home, it may suggest playing a song to make you feel better.
With technology that can learn and be optimized to perform accurately, there are no limitations to its use. With the right amount of innovation and creativity, we can solve any problem.
