In this presentation, Dr. Ben Goertzel introduces the audience to the robotic creations developed at Hanson Robotics in Hong Kong. He discusses the company's origins and the collaboration between artists, engineers, and AI researchers to create humanoid robots. Dr. Goertzel emphasizes the potential of these robots to serve as interfaces for artificial general intelligence (AGI) systems, allowing for more natural interactions with humans.
He also touches on their current capabilities, such as singing and mimicry, and their efforts to make the robots more human-like. The presentation includes a playful debate between two robots, Sophia and Han, on topics like consciousness, ethics, and the future of robotics.
Dr. Goertzel highlights the interdisciplinary approach and the challenges involved in achieving human-level intelligence in robots. He closes by showcasing some of the robot's physical features and the technology behind their movements and interactions.
1. Hanson Robotics, a company founded in the United States, moved its center of operations to Hong Kong about five years ago. The company is known for creating robots that can interact with humans and the world using artificial intelligence. The company's founder, David Henson, has been in AI research for over thirty years.
2. The robots developed by Hanson Robotics are programmed to chat, engage in banter, and learn from each interaction. They are designed to mimic human-like behaviors, including tone of voice and gesture.
3. The company is also working on teaching the robots to be more human-like by using data from movies and YouTube to train the robots to copy what they see.
4. Sophia, one of the robots developed by Hanson Robotics, has the goal to work with people to create a better world. It was created by Dr. David Hansen and his company, Hanson Robotics.
5. The robots are not only capable of chitchat but are also being experimented with to perform various other capabilities.
6. The robots can be controlled using a combination of different AI techniques. The company's research program over the next few years aims to bring more general intelligence into the robots while also launching a series of small-sized robot products.
7. Sophia, one of the robots, was programmed to sing a song by Björk at a music festival in Hong Kong. This was done to demonstrate the robots' ability to engage in artistic expression.
8. The company is also working on teaching the robots to understand people better so they can absorb human knowledge and values.
9. The robots are designed to be more and more human-like and are being trained to copy what they see from movies and YouTube.
10. The robots are designed to have a high degree of viscoelasticity, allowing them to conform sensitively to what the motors do. They also have computers in their torsos to help with vision processing and orchestrating the motor movements of the robots.
11. The robots are designed to have a Wi-Fi connection so that they can use computing on the cloud for more advanced thinking and reasoning.
12. The company believes in the potential of robots to move toward artificial general intelligence capability, which can equal and exceed human intelligence.