In the quest to breathe Artificial Life into sociable robots, researchers draw inspiration from biological systems and evolutionary processes. By imitating natural phenomena through software, hardware and wetware, new and somewhat controversial, areas of study have emerged that promise to imbue many types of robots with Artificial Life. As dynamic systems that evolve and solve problems in unexpected ways, these forms of distributed Artificial Intelligence, open up the pathways towards Humanoid Robots that posses their own individual “personalities”.
In the search for suitable role models as inspiration for Humanoid Robots with attitude, Bender, the foul mouthed, alcoholic, cigar smoking, kleptomaniac robot from the Futurama animated television series, might not be the first candidate that springs to mind. One dedicated fan, however, has taken the first steps towards breathing Artificial Life into this much loved cartoon character and shares detailed information on how to build a life-sized replica with beer brewing and speech capabilities included. How long will it be before enthusiasts in the hobby robotics community endow Bender with robotic mobility, vision and dynamic social intelligence? And will Robots programmed with an open, Social Robot Architecture, develop unexpected personality traits?
Of course, Bender isn’t the first fictional robot that addresses the fascinating possibilities of Artificial Life in Robotic entities. Ever since the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz longed for a heart, fictional robots have expressed their desire for human emotions. Data, the Star Trek android, continuously debates his lack of personality and inability to express emotion with other crew members and could possibly represent an already outdated representation of the future of robotics. Other fictional robots, like Johnny 5, WALL-E and Marvin, the depressed robot from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, come with a preinstalled personality that doesn’t necessarily restrict their ability to learn.
Humanoid Robots that express emotion are also treading the boards in the world of Theatre, where human actors and their robotic counterparts, combine their talents in a creative exhibition of Human-Robot Interaction. “Robots”, a recent musical at the Barnabe Theatre, near Lausanne in Switzerland, explores the relationship of a man with his three robots and is the result of over ten years of work with contributions from the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and the Lausanne Cantonal Art School. The Robot Actors are preprogrammed by Olivier Renault, the tech guy behind the scenes, are semi-autonomous, reacting to actors cues and guided by 360 degree laser sensors. Human actors may soon have to compete with Robo-thespians that never turn up late for a gig or forget their lines in the most critical moment of a performance.
As we boldly face a future where Artificial Life and robots, that not only express emotions, but dynamically create them, becomes a reality, it’s reasonable to expect the rise of controversies and societal problems that will inevitability have to be addressed. Should robots be programmed with emotions such as anger, fear or sadness that influence their interaction with humans? Should emotions be carefully tailored to individual robots that perform specific functions in a variety of situations? What are the advantages of using open architecture platforms that allow robots to evolve through learning and the attentive guidance of a human partner?
All these questions and many more will have to be answered through extensive research across diverse scientific disciplines and the more practical realm of trial and error in the field. And far from the clunky, metallic and emotionless robot depictions of old, humanity could be at the brink of a future teeming with emotional and sociable robots that act out their roles in the Theatre of the Singularity.
Tags: Artificial Life, Bender, human robot interaction, humanoid robots, Robo-thespians, Robot Actors, Social Robot Architecture, Theatre of the Singularity
Artificial life, very interesting indeed!