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Social Robot?

Posted by michael on from the please-and-thank-you dept.

smashr writes "Researchers are currently putting the finishing touches on robots that will be attending the AAAI (American Association for Artificial Intelligence) conference this year as part of the AAAI robot challenge. In addition to robots wearing tuxedos and serving drinks, several robots designed to actually register themselves will be participating in the conference. One such robot is GRACE, being built by Carnegie Mellon University and the Naval Research Lab (among others). GRACE features a digital face and speech recognition to interact with people attending the conference. (She even runs Linux!) Her goal is to register for the conference, give a speech and answer questions. Stories at: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, CNN.com, and USA Today."

5 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. Ro-bot by Skyshadow · · Score: 5, Funny

    Robots with social skills? Dear God, they've surpassed 80% of the population of /.!

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    Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
  2. A paradox by Tall+Rob+Mc · · Score: 4, Funny

    Its an interesting paradox that the nerdiest of computer geeks are programming robots to interact socially...

    These people are the most qualified and least qualified at the same time!

    1. Re:A paradox by fobbman · · Score: 4, Funny

      People have been getting robots to do what is too unsafe for humans to do for a long time. Studying the insides of volcanos, defusing bombs, roaming the surface of Mars, and interacting with others in public all hold the same level of danger to geeks.

  3. How Long... by John+Hasler · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...before the organization is renamed "The American Association of Artificial Intelligences"?

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    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  4. What will this be like in 2050? by guttentag · · Score: 4, Funny
    Her goal is to register for the conference, give a speech and answer questions.
    I realize these are not easy tasks, but I have to wonder what challenging goals will be like in the future. Will we be reading an article on Slashdot.NET in 2050 that talks about a robot's goals at the conference including:
    • Driving itself to the conference in an inconspicuous, beat-up old 2040-model car?
    • Spilling its drink on an attractive woman's shirt and taking first-person-perspective photos of the cleanup efforts?
    • Fooling the attendees into believing it is a real person?
    • Fooling the other robots posing as attendees into believing it is a real person?
    • Fooling the attendees into believing they are real people?
    By those standards, registering oneself for the conference, giving a speech and answering questions seems easy.