The innovation
Without a doubt, we live in an era characterized by an explosion of technological advances. With a click, we can now watch a live theatre performance or enjoy the experience of a range of online games, such as NetBet slots, via their respective platforms. Researchers at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Columbia University in New York have made the innovation. The team therefore managed to create a robot that has signs of empathy. We, thus, realize that the progress of artificial intelligence is not only impressive but also threatening.
Interesting was the statement of the research team in the relevant publication in the journal ‘Nature’. Professor Hod Lipson of the Department of Mechanical Engineering led the team. Togeter they have built a robot that has the ability to predict the behavior of another robot. This happens through visual observation, thereby displaying a kind of empathy. This technological achievement marks the beginning of better communication in many levels. Firstly, empathy between robots themselves but also a more ‘human’ communication is achieved between robots and humans. In essence, they are learning to operate in the same way that a couple can predict the movement of their partner.
The explanation
According to the experiments, through a simple visual observation and having the right algorithm, one robot was able to predict the target of another robot 98% of the time.”Our findings show how robots begin to see the world from another robot’s point of view. It is, perhaps, a primitive form of empathy,” said researcher Boyuan Chen. But in the course of time, it is expected that they will upgrade their capabilities by “getting into the mind” of another robot, in the same way, that a child at the age of about 3 years starts to understand that the people around them have their own needs and opinions. However, on the other hand, according to Lipson, this impressive development of artificial intelligence also raises ethical questions.
If the technology gives robots the ability to acquire empathy similar to that of humans so that they are able to divine the thoughts and intentions of humans, does this mean that they may eventually reach the point where they can manipulate human thoughts as well? Certainly, for several years to come, humans will still outperform robots in “putting themselves in the shoes” of others. However, the ability of a machine to predict actions and plans without a linguistic or cognitive background can enlighten us about the origins of social intelligence.
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Author: PC-GR
The World of Technology
