Edgar, No, not 'enlightened' robots - finite-state (digital) processing robots who are 'self-aware'.
When they start seriously working again with analog processing to emulate human thinking I'll start taking more notice. ...Bill! --- In [email protected], Edgar Owen <edgarowen@...> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > Permanent Address: > > http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=automaton-robots-become-self-aware > > Automaton, Know Thyself: Robots Become Self-Aware > > > > Droids met the challenge of perceiving their self-image and reflecting on > > their own thoughts as part an effort to develop robots that are more > > adaptable in unpredictable situations > > > > By Charles Q. Choi | Thursday, February 24, 2011 | > > > > BOTTY IMAGE: An artist's depiction of a robot reflecting on itself. Image: > > Victor Zykov, Cornell University > > > > Robots might one day trace the origin of their consciousness to recent > > experiments aimed at instilling them with the ability to reflect on their > > own thinking. > > > > Although granting machines self-awareness might seem more like the stuff of > > science fiction than science, there are solid practical reasons for doing > > so, explains roboticist Hod Lipson at Cornell University's Computational > > Synthesis Laboratory. > > > > "The greatest challenge for robots today is figuring out how to adapt to > > new situations," he says. "There are millions of robots out there, mostly > > in factories, and if everything is in the right place at the right time for > > them, they are superhuman in their precision, in their power, in their > > speed, in their ability to work repetitively 24/7 in hazardous > > environmentsbut if a bolt falls out of place, game over." > > > > This lack of adaptability "is the reason we don't have many robots in the > > home, which is much more unstructured than the factory," Lipson adds. "The > > key is for robots to create a model of themselves to figure out what is > > working and not working in order to adapt." > > > > So, Lipson and his colleagues developed a robot shaped like a four-legged > > starfish whose brain, or controller, developed a model of what its body was > > like. The researchers started the droid off with an idea of what motors and > > other parts it had, but not how they were arranged, and gave it a directive > > to move. By trial and error, receiving feedback from its sensors with each > > motion, the machine used repeated simulations to figure out how its body > > was put together and evolved an ungainly but effective form of movement all > > on its own. Then "we removed a leg," and over time the robot's self-image > > changed and learned how to move without it, Lipson says. > > > > Now, instead of having robots modeling their own bodies Lipson and Juan > > Zagal, now at the University of Chile in Santiago , have developed ones > > that essentially reflect on their own thoughts. They achieve such thinking > > about thinking, or metacognition, by placing two minds in one bot. One > > controller was rewarded for chasing dots of blue light moving in random > > circular patterns and avoiding red dots as if they were poison, whereas a > > second controller modeled how the first behaved and whether it was > > successful or not. > > > > So why might two brains be better than one? The researchers changed the > > rules so that chasing red dots and avoiding blue dots were rewarded > > instead. By reflecting on the first controller's actions, the second one > > could make changes to adapt to failuresfor instance, it filtered sensory > > data to make red dots seem blue and blue dots seem red, Lipson says. In > > this way the robot could adapt after just four to 10 physical experiments > > instead of the thousands it would take using traditional evolutionary > > robotic techniques. > > > > "This could lead to a way to identify dangerous situations, learning from > > them without having to physically go through themthat's something that's > > been missing in robotics," says computer scientist Josh Bongard at the > > University of Vermont, a past collaborator of Lipson's who did not take > > part in this study. > > > > Beyond robots that think about what they are thinking, Lipson and his > > colleagues are also exploring if robots can model what others are thinking, > > a property that psychologists call "theory of mind". For instance, the team > > had one robot observe another wheeling about in an erratic spiraling manner > > toward a light. Over time, the observer could predict the other's movements > > well enough to know where to lay a "trap" for it on the ground. "It's > > basically mind reading," Lipson says. > > > > "Our holy grail is to give machines the same kind of self-awareness > > capabilities that humans have," Lipson says. "This research might also shed > > new light on the very difficult topic of our self-awareness from a new > > anglehow it works, why and how it developed." > > > > One potential application they have tested for self-aware machines is with > > a model bridge, with sensors continuously monitoring vibrations across its > > frame to develop a self-image of its "body". "In simulations we've shown > > that it could identify weakened joints a lot sooner than via traditional > > civil engineering methods," Lipson says. "The bridge isn't going to > > suddenly wake up one day and say hello, but in a primitive sense you can > > say it has self-image, enough to turn on a red light if something's wrong." > > > > A key question for this research concerns how far it can actually go. > > "These are very simple robots, maybe eight or a dozen moving parts, so it's > > relatively easy to construct models of everything. But if you scale it up, > > will it still be able to make a good model of self?" Bongard asks. "That > > question also extends to social robots observing a human or something else > > complex. The question of scalability is what research is examining at the > > moment." > > > > Intriguingly, the research also revealed what mental illness robots might > > develop. For instance, the starfishlike robot that developed a body image > > "spontaneously developed 'phantom limb' syndrome, thinking it had arms and > > legs where it didn't," Lipson says. "As robots become more complex and > > evolve themselves, we could see the same kinds of disorders we [humans can] > > have appear in machines." > > > > Lipson detailed his team's research February 19 at the annual meeting of > > the American Association for Advancement of Science conference in > > Washington, D.C. > > > > Source: Scientific American > > http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=automaton-robots-become-self-aware&print=true > > > ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! 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