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Understanding the four types of AI, from reactive robots to self-aware beings
Arend Hintze
30 Nov 2016
The common, and recurring, view of the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence research is that sentient and intelligent machines are just on the horizon. Machines understand verbal commands, ...
When robots become art: Interview with Yi-Wei Keng
Yueh-Hsuan Weng
29 Nov 2016
How can robotics help to enhance the development of the modern arts? Japan’s famous playwright, stage director Oriza Hirata and leading roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro launched the “Robot Theater Proj...
The Ford factor: Mad scientists and corporate villains
Michael Szollosy
16 Nov 2016
Please note: The following article may contain spoilers up to Episode 5 of Westworld.
HBO’s Westworld (on Sky Atlantic here in the UK) is progressing nicely, though even now at five episodes in ...
Why watching Westworld’s robots should make us question ourselves
Tony Prescott
21 Oct 2016
For a sci-fi fan like me, fascinated by the nature of human intelligence and the possibility of building life-like robots, it’s always interesting to find a new angle on these questions. As a re-ima...
The new Westworld: Humanizing the un-human, or dehumanizing humankind?
Michael Szollosy
18 Oct 2016
HBO’s latest offering (on SkyAtlantic here in the UK) is an update of Michael Crichton‘s 1973 film Westworld; this time brought to us as a ten-part television series by sci-fi re-booter extraordin...
President Obama discusses artificial intelligence with Media Lab Director Joi Ito
MIT News
17 Oct 2016
When President Barack Obama agreed to guest-edit the November issue of WIRED, he selected MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito for an exchange of ideas about artificial intelligence (AI). Their recent inter...
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ICRA 2016: Landmine Detection Challenge, with Edson Prestes
Audrow Nash
16 Oct 2016
In this episode, Audrow Nash interviews Edson Prestes, Professor at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and an organizer of the Humanitarian Robotics and Automation Technology Challenge (HRATC) 20...
White House releases reports focusing on opportunities and challenges of AI
Dave Gershgorn
14 Oct 2016
While the future of artificial intelligence is probably going to be driven by Silicon Valley, the folks in Washington DC want their say about how it will work, too.
In two reports, the White House ...
25 women in robotics you need to know about – 2016
Editor's note:
In celebration of International Women's Day, we're reposting our latest '25 Women in Robotics You Need to Know About' list. Over the last four years, Robohub has featured 100 inspir...
The Robot Economy: Interview with MEP Mady Delvaux
SPARC
08 Oct 2016
In our final interview in The Robot Economy series, we speak with Mady Delvaux, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and Chair of the Working Group on robotics. Mady has written an extensive draft ...
The Robot Economy: Interview with Alan Manning
SPARC
27 Sep 2016
In today’s interview, we sat down with Alan Manning, Professor of Labour Economics at the London School of Economics. He is a leading author in his field, particularly in understanding the imperfect...
What artificial intelligence will look like in 2030
Leah Burrows and Harvard SEAS
16 Sep 2016
Artificial intelligence (AI) has already transformed our lives — from the autonomous cars on the roads to the robotic vacuums and smart thermostats in our homes. Over the next 15 years, AI technolog...
Taking measure of artificial intelligence and the Turing Test
Jibo
31 Aug 2016
As far as party games go, the Imitation Game is a pretty clever and fairly entertaining one. A man and a women answer questions as if they were the other, trying to fool party guests into guessing the...
How cooperative behaviour could make artificial intelligence more human
Roger Whitaker
26 Aug 2016
Cooperation is one of the hallmarks of being human. We are extremely social compared to other species. On a regular basis, we all enter into helping others in small but important ways, whether it be l...
The Robot Economy: Interview with Alan Winfield
SPARC
24 Aug 2016
Robots and their impact on the economy is on the forefront of everyone’s mind. Will robots increase productivity and jobs, improve society, and will wealth be shared? To address this question, we’...
The dark side of ethical robots
Alan Winfield
09 Aug 2016
When I was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4's Today programme in 2014, Justin Webb's final question was, "If you can make an ethical robot, doesn't that mean you could make an unethical robot?" The ans...
Lessons from Brexit and learning to better communicate robotics research and innovation
Michael Szollosy
27 Jul 2016
As part of the UK’s National Robotics Week, The University of Sheffield hosted the 17th Towards Autonomous Systems (TAROS) conference from 28-30 June. Among the papers and discussions on the develo...
How science can help us make AI more trustworthy
Simone Stumpf
22 Jul 2016
Stories about racist Twitter accounts and crashing self-driving cars can make us think that artificial intelligence (AI) is a work in progress. But while these headline-grabbing mistakes reveal the fr...
Why football, not chess, is the true final frontier for robotic artificial intelligence
Daniel Polani
20 Jul 2016
The perception of what artificial intelligence was capable of began to change when chess grand master and world champion Garry Kasparov lost to Deep Blue, IBM’s chess-playing program, in 1997. Deep ...
Law-abiding robots? What should the legal status of robots be?
Anders Sandberg
18 Jul 2016
News media are reporting that the EU is considering turning robots into electronic persons with rights and apparently industry spokespeople are concerned that Brussels’ overzealousness could hinder ...
A European perspective on robot law: Interview with Mady Delvaux-Stehres
Yueh-Hsuan Weng
15 Jul 2016
10 years after the release of the EURON Roboethics Roadmap and we are witnessing a technology revolution. In the last 10 years, we've seen: Google’s self-driving car, Amazon’s KIVA system, drone...
The obsession with creating ‘perfect female robots’: Should women be worried?
Julie Wosk
14 Jul 2016
Julie Wosk is the author of a provocative book that gives the history of female robots in movies, television, art, literature, and includes a chapter on robotics. My Fair Ladies: Female Robots, Andr...
Relax, we’re not living in a computer simulation
Alan Winfield
13 Jul 2016
Ever since Elon Musk's recent admission that he's a simulationist, several people have asked me what I think of the proposition that we are living inside a simulation. My view is very firmly that the...
Unity between human and social machines: What if we humans were anthrobots?
Robohub Editors
08 Jul 2016
Writer and philosopher Luis de Miranda studies cultural history of digital devices and automata, with his latest essay (in French) L’Art d’être libres au temps des automates (The Art of Being...
Caring for robots: How assistive robotics may change our homes
Benjamin Lipp
15 Jun 2016
Who will care for us in the future? According to many politicians, scientists and market analysts, it could be machines. Machines that will change our diapers, and spend time with us once we are old....
Beyond Asimov: how to plan for ethical robots
Benjamin Kuipers
02 Jun 2016
As robots become integrated into society more widely, we need to be sure they’ll behave well among us. In 1942, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov attempted to lay out a philosophical and moral fra...
Robohub roundtable: Robotics and space exploration
Kassie Perlongo
11 May 2016
Every few weeks, Robohub will post a roundtable chat and discuss an engaging topic relating to robotics. In this edition, we looked at how can robotics can be part of space exploration. Privatisation ...
The coming nightmare for the car industry
Brad Templeton, Robocars.com
11 May 2016
I have often written on the challenge facing existing automakers in the world of robocars. They need to learn to completely switch their way of thinking in a world of mobility on demand, and not all o...
Robohub roundtable: Why is it so difficult to define ‘robot’?
Kassie Perlongo
29 Apr 2016
Put on your thinking caps. Every few weeks, Robohub will conduct a roundtable discussion. In this edition, we discuss the challenges and limitations in defining the word ‘robot’. We strongly encou...
Should robots be gendered?
Alan Winfield
20 Apr 2016
Should robots be gendered? I have serious doubts about the morality of designing and building robots to resemble men or women, boys or girls. Let me explain why....
Why robots need to be able to say ‘No’
Matthias Scheutz
13 Apr 2016
Should you always do what other people tell you to do? Clearly not. Everyone knows that. So should future robots always obey our commands? At first glance, you might think they should, simply because ...
Where should robots go when they retire?
Sarah Laskow, Atlas Obscura
12 Apr 2016
Most robots, when their creators are done with them, meet one of two fates. Either they’re stashed away, in some corner of a lab, closet or basement, or they’re cannibalized to make another robot....
Can I trust my robot? And should my robot trust me?
Riccardo Bevilacqua
07 Apr 2016
If we are serious about long-term human presence in space, such as manned bases on the moon or Mars, we must figure out how to streamline human-robot interactions....
Robots grow up: Building the emotional machine
Angelica Lim and Footnote
29 Mar 2016
From the sci-fi classic “Bladerunner” to the recent films “Her” and “Ex Machina,” pop culture is filled with stories demonstrating our simultaneous fascination with and fear of artificial ...
Google’s Go-playing AI system beat Korean grandmaster 4 out of 5 games
Frank Tobe
17 Mar 2016
Embed from Getty Images
Machines have been beating humans for years in games and contests: chess, Scrabble, checkers, Jeopardy! and more recently, the Chinese board game Go. Google's AI machi...
Survey shows public attitude towards robotics generally positive, but evokes mixed feelings
Michael Szollosy
17 Mar 2016
The British Science Association released a survey about British public’s attitudes toward robotics and AI. Their headlines state:
60% of people think that the use of robots or programmes equipp...
