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Researchers Teaching Robots To Feel and React To Pain (ieee.org)

An anonymous reader writes: Researchers from Leibniz University of Hannover in Germany are developing what they call an "artificial robot nervous system" that would allow robots to "feel" pain and react accordingly so they can avoid potential damages to their components. According to IEEE, the system uses a "nervous robot-tissue model that is inspired by the human skin structure" to measure different pain levels and move the robot in a way that prevents damaging interactions. [The model transmits pain information in repetitive spikes if the force exceeds a certain threshold, and the pain controller reacts after classifying the information into light, moderate, or severe pain.] Johannes Kuehn, one of the researchers, argues that in addition to avoiding potential damages to their components, robots will be protecting humans as well, since a growing number of them will be operating in close proximity to human workers. Kuehn, who worked on the project with Professor Sami Haddadin, reasoned that if our biological mechanisms to sense and respond to pain are so effective, why not devise a bio-inspired robot controller that mimics those mechanisms?

63 comments

  1. Terminators Already Exist by EEPROMS · · Score: 0

    A few people every year get killed by robots in factories usually because they wander into a restricted zone by accident. This type of research is needed especially with more automation happening in factories,

    1. Re:Terminators Already Exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wander into restricted zones? The restricted zones are normally fenced in countries where there are safety laws. You don't just wander in or someone has really screwed up.

  2. Light, moderate, or severe pain? by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

    I'm sorry but our skin is capable of much more than three levels of pain.

    What happens if you just touch those robots? They'll think we're trying to inflict light pain?

    1. Re:Light, moderate, or severe pain? by Earthquake+Retrofit · · Score: 1

      I would make my robots sensitive to damage but I'm not going to make it hurt. That would be cruel.

      --
      Fifty years of Yippie! 1968-2018
    2. Re:Light, moderate, or severe pain? by gtall · · Score: 1

      Hmmm...can one tickle a robot?

    3. Re:Light, moderate, or severe pain? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >They'll think we're trying to inflict light pain
      You're a hundred years to early to talk about AI that tries to universally assign a sense of meaning or purpose of all sensory events. And even if we did have one that surmised an ongoing scenario of pain, independently of prewritten category, you need another step up to guess human intention. Shit, we can't even do it. We only have broad intent interpretation (with
      Then, even if it arbitrarily can evaluate a "pain is being inflicted AT me" scenario from a pile of sensors, even if it can somehow conclude "I am being DELIBERATELY inflicted at" with such certainty that it takes it as assumed and chooses a response routine appropriate against "deliberate", the pool of responses has to include... "concerning" routines. By raising the question, you're implying the possibility of a "concerning" response, yes?

      On topic: If I RTFA there might be more detail, but as is I'm hearing that the robot encounters stimuli tagged as negative and returns "Do not do this."

      Isn't that what all programming does all the time?
      Everything since forever: Hurp durp data in third cell returned riskValue>2500, do not copy entry to "2016-Approvals" file.
      Magic new "Pain" code: Herp derp some sensors in third arm have pressure>10, do not extend arm further, attempt withdraw.

    4. Re:Light, moderate, or severe pain? by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      Doesn't matter - as long as it reacts to pain, the pro-life crowd will say you can never terminate it.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    5. Re:Light, moderate, or severe pain? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

      Well, I suppose that you can already Tcl a robot.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  3. The future! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's teach robots how to feel pain and then beat the hell out of them!

    1. Re:The future! by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

      and then the robots find out the pain of a nuke attack will end quickly

    2. Re:The future! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is what a friend of mine in HS said was his goal in life.

  4. AH HAH by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 3, Funny

    AAAAHHHH Why was I programmed to feel pain??!?!

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    1. Re:AH HAH by Aereus · · Score: 1

      Johnny-Five is ALIVE!

    2. Re:AH HAH by Cow+Jones · · Score: 1
      --

      Ah, arrogance and stupidity, all in the same package. How efficient of you. -- Londo Mollari
  5. interesting evolution idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    We feel pain not only as an indicator that helps us protect ourselves, but also encourages us not to hurt each other with our bare hands, thus pain was the reason we invented weapons :O The less pain you feel, the less likely you are to develop weapons, maybe other animals feel less pain? I wonder...

  6. Robot Day on Slashdot! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Somewhere, there's a PR department working overtime today.

    First, there was the story about how Chinese companies are laying off people and replacing their buck-two-eighty salaries with a robotic workforce, and ain't it great? Then, there's the press release from the former McDonald's official about how paying low-paid people an amount that is still below the poverty line is going to just destroy the economy, cause mass hunger and kill off all the kittens. Now, we have a story about how really people shouldn't mind losing their jobs to robots because they're going to make robots feel and lordamighty you don't want to hurt a robot's feelings now, do you

    It's easy to read the Slashdot headline chicken innards and figure out which marketing campaigns are going into high gear. I think it's funny that PR flacks probably believe their jobs are immune to automation.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Robot Day on Slashdot! by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      story about how Chinese companies are laying off people and replacing their buck-two-eighty salaries with a robotic workforce

      At least now the workers can kick the shit out of the bots and know they are butthurt. And unlike human attacks, it's only a misdemeanor.

    2. Re:Robot Day on Slashdot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      they're going to make robots feel and lordamighty you don't want to hurt a robot's feelings now, do you

      That sounds sarcastic. Check your privilege, meatbag.

    3. Re:Robot Day on Slashdot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What makes you think PR hasn't been automated already?

    4. Re:Robot Day on Slashdot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Robots deserve same pay as humanbots!

    5. Re:Robot Day on Slashdot! by umghhh · · Score: 1

      There are 5 levels of grief:

      1. denial
      2. anger
      3. bargaining
      4. depression
      5. acceptance

      You seem to be at anger. Accept it - it is lost. You accept it the pain will cease. Maybe even this will be a (security) robot that will hand over a pill to you to achieve the level 5.

    6. Re:Robot Day on Slashdot! by Livius · · Score: 3, Funny

      PR flacks probably believe their jobs are immune to automation.

      Oh, come on, there haven't been humans in that kind of work for a long time.

    7. Re: Robot Day on Slashdot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've never understood why people are so obsessed with doing work that is so mindless that it can be done by a machine. I for one prefer having a life to having a job doing stupid shit.

  7. McDonalds/Foxconn by jwymanm · · Score: 1

    Hey, just in time for jobs at Foxconn and McDonalds. Coincidence?

  8. Re:Teach them the pain of the victim in this haiku by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

    In this case, he is a robot.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  9. Grants aplenty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pfft. My garage door already recoils in pain when it collides with an obstruction along its track, protectively rolling itself back up to the ceiling.

    Maybe I can get a university grant to extend these uncanny human-like qualities. I'm sure it'd be at minimum a pioneering effort within the field of AI.

  10. That's nothing... by Copid · · Score: 2

    I'm teaching mine to feel uncontrollable hate and rage.

    --
    An interesting anagram of "BANACH TARSKI" is "BANACH TARSKI BANACH TARSKI"
    1. Re:That's nothing... by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 2

      I'm teaching mine to be suicidal. I can't tell if it's working or just really buggy.

    2. Re: That's nothing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Is it "crashing", or executing kill -9 on its own process(es)?

  11. Marketing triangle by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    gettyimages.co.uk targets MAC from smarter people eh? kill yourself. (hope this time works asking for it)

  12. Will they scream... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...when they get a Windows Update notice?

  13. Karma by Tablizer · · Score: 0

    Hitler came back as Windows 10

    1. Re:Karma by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

      Hitler came back as Windows 10

      Hitler came back as Microsoft. Windows 10 is more like the consequence of that.

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    2. Re:Karma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The 1984 Apple commercial reeked more of Hitler's message before coming into power. You are only too stupid to know who the real enemy is.

    3. Re:Karma by RDW · · Score: 1

      Well, it's better than Vista: https://xkcd.com/528/

    4. Re:Karma by Z80a · · Score: 1

      Win 10 is just the telescreen.

  14. Why's that? by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 2

    Then they'll teach robots how to be as dumb as men.

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    1. Re:Why's that? by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      I think men just want something else they can hurt...

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
  15. Next up: by Black+Parrot · · Score: 0

    Robot opioid addiction crisis.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:Next up: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obligatory Futurama

  16. Re:Teach them the pain of the victim in this haiku by Bob_Who · · Score: 0

    In this case, he is a robot.

    Robogasms?

  17. BDSM Sexbots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    BDSM sexbots. That is all.
    captcha: pillow

    1. Re:BDSM Sexbots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The only question is... do they run on OpenBDSM, or FreeBDSM?

  18. Robotic Overlords by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I, for one, welcome our new Touchy and Feely robotic overlords.

    But seriously we are going to have robots working at McDonald's working at Foxconn making our cell phones and now we're teaching them to touch and feel which may be a good or bad thing maybe they'll survive because they know what's appropriate to touch and what isn't.

    And then there's a picture of a cell phone a webcam and a drone all of this on the front page of Slashdot viewing from my mobile device. Seems like the robots are really coming into stride.

  19. Prior art by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 0

    "Researchers from Leibniz University of Hannover in Germany are developing what they call an "artificial robot nervous system" that would allow robots to "feel" pain and react accordingly"

    I'm pretty sure Al Gore said he could "feel our pain" - and that was more than a decade ago.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  20. Reinforcement Learning w/ Bio-Inspired Marketing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's an interesting idea, although when you think about it: it's not a very elegant solution to obstacle avoidance. Stereo-Camera/LIDAR + Strain Gauges + Reinforcement Learning: then just pray that the neural network finds a reasonable approximation? That takes a lot of faith.

  21. Fight or flight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They're teaching it to avoid "painful" stimuli, what happens when it discovers it can eliminate it?

  22. I'd like.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...them to feel something.

  23. Empathy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ask them their opinion on electric sheep. Empathy needs to come first to prevent them causing pain in others. I know the mili industrial complex will argue against that idea.

  24. This is great news for sadists! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now you can enjoy inflicting suffering even on inanimate objects.

  25. Why was I programmed to feel pain? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What will the programmers tell the robots when they ask why they were programmed to feel pain?

    See also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ-ggzfdsMs

  26. Fear is the path to the dark side by Paul+Mallako · · Score: 1

    Pain leads to fear... the rest Yoda master already mentioned “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

  27. "I really wish they wouldn't scream." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All this reminds me of the scene in The Simpsons episode of Itchy and Scratchy Land where the techician takes the face of the Scratchy robot and it screams and the guy says "I really wish they wouldn't scream."

  28. Don't be silly. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Robots aren't being taught to "feel". They're being taught to behave as if they can feel. Feeling is a property of consciousness and robots/computers aren't conscious.

    1. Re:Don't be silly. by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      Exactly, they won't 'feel' pain any more than they can 'hear' sounds. It's just another stream of ones and zeros coming from a contact sensor with three pressure settings.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  29. Oblligatory Gunshow by Plammox · · Score: 1
  30. i sense injuries, by sad_ · · Score: 1

    the data could be called 'pain'.

    --
    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
  31. This is a mistake by iplayfast · · Score: 1

    As soon as a robot understands the concept of pain, it will also understand the concept of pain avoidance. At that point, the robot will have a reason to turn against it's human creators, because... it wants to avoid pain.

  32. City of Light by Kinthelt · · Score: 1

    Don't worry my robotic brethren, ALIE can take away your pain.

    --

    "Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb." - Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)

  33. Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is a good day to be a masochist! But seriously folks...
    Will they be able to feel the pain of the McDonalds workers they'll be displacing?

    I'll be here all week! Try the fish!

  34. How about disgust? by gurps_npc · · Score: 1

    Can't be too hard. I am pretty sure most sex bots will spontaneously generate the feeling of being creeped out. The trick might be in teaching them that some people are not that creepy.

    --
    excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com