Skynet is online

I don’t know about you, but I certainly spent a healthy portion of my youth wondering what would happen when the machines took over. Well, it looks like the end is nigh, because Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has made a robot that is aware of itself. The programmers of the robot, or robots in this case, made three identical robots, except that only one robot could speak. As the NY Business Journal says:

“All three were “told” only one could speak. They were then asked which was the one who could speak, and attempted to say “I don’t’ know.” Two remained silent, the third successfully responded, at which time it realized that it was the one with the power to speak. A simple form of self-awareness.”

The future world of robotics...

So a robot was able to listen to a question and then realize that it was different from its two twins. This has a lot of implications for the future world of robotics as well as VR and AR. What if the world that you were immersed in knew that you were not enjoying the experience and stepped up the action to excite you, or if your phone knew… well actually my phone being sentient is too scary to contemplate. We would like to see some video games that have some really intelligent AI, not just beefed up Metal Gear Solid guards. It is exciting to think what the Call Of Duty of the future would be like with realistic computer opponents. Could this type of technology make single player games as insidious as MMOs? So many questions burning in our minds.

Robots that can adapt?!

This test was an example of one of the most basic self awareness tests. Some tests have been done in the past, including a lab in England, getting a robot to recognize itself in a mirror, but this is the first time that a robot has been able to differentiate itself from the surroundings and take its own actions into account when reasoning. The greatest challenge in the world of robotics is getting units to react to real time situations and solve problems that the robot itself is a part of. In a test several years ago, scientists made a robot that looked like a starfish and was programmed to “walk”. After a short time the scientists removed one leg from the robot and made the robot “learn” to walk with four legs instead of five. Combining these technologies could mean that robots will be able to adapt to the reality of an ever changing world.

It is a double edged sword, this intelligence thing. On the one hand it is exciting to see robots that can think for themselves and make decisions, on the other hand we don’t want them to problem solve us, a la Terminator. Even Stephen Hawking said recently, “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race”. We are keeping a close eye on this technology and are will let you know if we need to start a war against your household appliances.