Skip to main content

Cute or creepy? This little robot just passed a self-awareness test

cute or creepy this little robot just passed a self awareness test screen shot 2015 07 20 at 8 02 13 pm
Self Consciousness with NAO Bots
Could this be the beginning of the end for human dominance over machines? In a recent logic test conducted by researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute AI and Reasoning Lab, one robot demonstrated self-awareness, a key component of real intelligence and a major differentiating factor (for now) between humans and humanoids. And while this particular display wasn’t all that threatening, the implications could be very interesting, if not terrifying.

In the experiment, RPI professor professor Selmer Bringsjord subjected three NAO robots (products of French company Aldebaran Robotics) to a version of a classic logic puzzle known as The King’s Wise Men. As the riddle is generally told, three wise men are told that they are wearing hats that are either white or blue, with the guarantee that at least one of the hats is blue. The winner is the wise man who is able to correctly identify the color of his hat, without speaking to either of the other two participants.

Self Consciousness with NAO Bots

But in RPI’s variation of the test, Bringsjord told three robots that two of them had received “dumbing pills,” making it impossible for them to speak, whereas the other had been given a placebo. Researchers then asked the robot whether they’d taken a dumbing pill or the placebo. After a long beat of silence, one robot responds, “I don’t know.” But then, in a delightfully and adorably child-like moment, it raises its hand and says, “Sorry, I know now. I was able to prove that I was not given the dumbing pill.”

This recognition, scientists say, demonstrates a degree of self-awareness in that the robot must have a) understood the rules, b) recognized its own voice, and c) been aware of the fact that it is a separate and distinct individual from the other two participating robots. If nothing else, researchers say, this self-correction was a display of a “mathematically verifiable awareness of the self,” something that has previously remained unproven.

Of course, how self-awareness is ultimately defined has yet to be settled upon, so there’s certainly no need to run screaming for the hills just yet in anticipation of the robot takeover, but it does raise interesting questions about the future of artificial intelligence, and whether we are really that different from our robotic counterparts. The answer could soon change quite drastically.

Editors' Recommendations

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Ford releases self-driving car data to encourage further research
ford releases self driving car data to researchers

Ford's self-driving car program is experiencing delays, but the automaker hopes that others will pick up the baton. Ford is releasing what it calls a "comprehensive self-driving vehicle dataset" to researchers. The goal is to promote further research and development of autonomous driving tech, Tony Lockwood, Ford autonomous vehicle manager, said in a blog post.

The package comprises data from multiple test vehicles operating in Detroit, collected over a one-year span, Lockwood said. The testing that generated this data was separate from work Ford is doing with Argo A.I. to develop a production-ready autonomous driving system, Lockwood noted.

Read more
Because 2020’s not crazy enough, a robot mouth is singing A.I. prayers in Paris
The Prayer

Diemut Strebe: The Prayer

In these troubling, confusing times, it can be tough to know who to turn to for help. One possible answer? A disembodied robot mouth chanting algorithmically generated Gregorian-style prayers in the voice of Amazon’s Kendra.

Read more
This Google robot taught itself to walk, with no help whatsoever, in two hours
Google Robot

Do you remember that scene in Walt Disney’s Bambi where the titular fawn learns to stand up and walk under its own power? It’s a charming vignette in the movie, showcasing a skill that plenty of baby animals -- from pigs to giraffe to, yes, deer -- pick up within minutes of their birth. Over the first few hours of life, these animals rapidly refine their motor skills until they have full control over their own locomotion. Humans, who learn to stand holding onto things at around seven months and who begin walking at 15 months, are hopelessly sluggish by comparison.

Guess what the latest task that robots have beaten us at? In a new study carried out by researchers at Google, engineers have taught a quadruped Minitaur robot to walk by, well, not really having to teach it much at all. Rather, they’ve used a a type of goal-oriented artificial intelligence to make a four-legged robot learn how to walk forward, backward, and turn left and right entirely on its own. It was able to successfully teach itself to do this on three different terrains, including flat ground, a soft mattress, and a doormat with crevices.

Read more