Robohub.org
podcast
 

Curious & creative with Rob Saunders


by
11 January 2013



share this:

In today’s episode we speak with Rob Saunders about work done at the University of Sydney in computational creativity and curiosity.

Rob Saunders
Rob Saunders is Lecturer in Design Computing and Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning at the University of Sydney where he joined the Design Lab. In 1995 he gained a BSc in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science from the University of Edinburgh and in 2002 he was awarded a PhD from the University of Sydney for his work on Curious Design Agents and Artificial Creativity. From 2002 to 2006 he lived in London where he worked on a number of interdisciplinary projects with artists, designers, and scientists including biological simulations of stem cell systems, an intelligent logo design system and autonomous artworks that have been exhibited in galleries across the UK and the USA.

After his return to Sydney in 2006, Saunders focused his attention to exploring computational models of creativity. His research interest lies in understanding human creativity and producing tools that support it. His curious design assistants for example are interface agents that have been developed to support human creativity by filtering and exploring design spaces. Saunders also aims to build minimal and well rounded models of creativity at the individual, social and cultural level for autonomous systems that work independently from humans.

Curiosity is one of the driving forces behind creative activity. As such, Saunders creates curious agents that are computational models of self-motivated learning based on interest in novelty.

In this interview, Saunders tells us about his many projects in curious systems and his take on creativity.

Links:



tags: , , ,


Podcast team The ROBOTS Podcast brings you the latest news and views in robotics through its bi-weekly interviews with leaders in the field.
Podcast team The ROBOTS Podcast brings you the latest news and views in robotics through its bi-weekly interviews with leaders in the field.

            AUAI is supported by:



Subscribe to Robohub newsletter on substack



Related posts :

Building and programming autonomous robots at the York Micromaze Hackathon

and   11 Sep 2026
From 25–27 August, UK RAS STEPS members came together for a three-day Micromaze Robot Hackathon.

Robotics roadmaps from around the world spotlight of the month: United States of America

US robotics researchers and industry are looking for a cohesive national robotics strategy.

Could robots help tackle loneliness? BBC’s Ann Droid raises questions about the future of care

  07 Sep 2026
While the series exaggerates what robots can currently do, some of the technology it depicts is already being tested.

Exploring the Moon will require rovers that can think for themselves – an upcoming NASA mission will test whether they can

  04 Sep 2026
NASA is planning to send three small rovers to the Moon to autonomously compute how to best explore a patch of ground.

Surviving the paper deluge: Notes from an ICRA panel on publishing, LLMs, and the future of peer review

Experts discuss peer-review challenges and possibilities for reshaping the process.

When expressive humanoid robots are awkward, people become wary – new brain study

  31 Aug 2026
People become more suspicious of a humanoid robot that makes errors, especially when the robot is an expressive conversation partner.

First 11 vs 11 humanoid soccer game played at RoboCup 2026

  28 Aug 2026
Watch highlights from this historic match.



AUAI is supported by:







Subscribe to Robohub newsletter on substack




 















©2026.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence