Since last week my alarm clock tells me the time and temperature in the morning when it wakes me up. Flipping my phone puts the alarm in snooze mode for 5 extra minutes of rest. Technology finds its way into our everyday life. Today I came across an article stating:
It seems likely that in 2012 a computer will pass the Turing Test – which might get us closer to a digital machine with true artificial intelligence (AI).
Even though my speaking alarm clock on my cell phone is not likely to be that machine it is important to note that technical development is evolving fast. On our visit in the Technical University of Munich this semester I was quite impressed to see how far robotics have come and what kind of effort is put into this. Even though the presentation of a robot making popcorn was heavily scripted I think it can be seen that there is a substantial effort put into this area of research.
Researchers across multiple disciplines are working together in order to advance the technological development and find common solutions. In the above cited article the idea of creativity is mentioned. It is quite interesting to think about it in this context as here creativity could be seen at a basic level of problem solving as for example: What does the robot need to do if it wants to take a milk out of the fridge?
Small robot
This is a quite simple question at first, after all humans do it all the time but remember that for the robot all of these steps need to be separated. Problems of definition arise: What is “milk” what is a “fridge” and where are the items situated? Which movement does it need to execute, in what order and with what strength does it pull on the fridge in order to open it? Creativity here is a way that the AI can figure all this stuff out.
Technology is far more than just computer nerds living in their own world of digits, it extends beyond the boundaries of science into our everyday life. The article mentions how human-computer interaction becomes important in all of our lives and I personally think that this is true. We need to study ourselves and our environment in order to improve computer capabilities but we also need to implement sustainable technologies in order to preserve our environment. Development goes hand in hand with responsibilities and one way to ensure our future is to keep innovating.
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I’m a science teacher so I always enjoy reading about advancements in technology. Robots bring with them an exciting future and limitless possibilities. I wonder if they will ever be able to love?
Thanks for your comment. And yes, I agree that robots have an interesting future but what I find even more interesting is that in Munich for example they told us that they only get funds for research if they put at least 2 different disciplines in one project. So for example biologists and an engineers would collaborate to study eyes in nature and use these techniques for robots as well.
In my opinion this is a very good example that people no longer work alone but that they are embedded in multidisciplinary approaches in order to advance a common cause; a topic which I find interesting for schools as well.
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“The article mentions how human-computer interaction becomes important in all of our lives and I personally think that this is true.”
How I agree with this! Sometimes I think to dedicate my life to teach this truth to others.
Then you should do that, dedicate your life to it
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