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Toy robot intended to save humans from evil, future bots

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When roboticist David Hanson thinks of the future, he fears that man will accidentally create a super-sentient artificial intelligence that is heartless and clinically insane.

So to save the world, he formed Hanson Robotics and built Zeno, a 17-inch robot boy, who smiles, laughs, recognizes your face and remembers your name.

Fending off the end of the world may be a heavy mantle to hang on the shoulders of a 17-inch robot that's still in prototype stage, but Hanson does call Zeno the superhero of the singularity.

"We want to be damn sure that by the time [robots] become as smart as we are, they have a conscience and compassion and that we are friends.," Hanson said. "There's no guarantee. They could be psychotic."

Zeno is himself a visitor from the future — a robot who reached consciousness in 2029, but is found by government web crawlers. From there he's put into a government academy for artificially intelligent robots, where those in charge may have nefarious motives.

"The world will need a superintelligent hero," Hanson said. "Superintelligent agents are also able to spawn technology that could destroy us all."

This narrative, crafted by Hugo award winner Tony Daniel and University of Texas performance professor Thomas Riccio, is intended to make Zeno into a character that people identify with and want to to see develop — something with the depth of a movie character or a figure from a Homerian epic.

That makes Zeno into as much of a sociological experiment as it is a technical marvel or fun toy.

"The idea is to create a cultural phenomenon and accelerate the use and humanization of the technology," Hanson said. "Robots have gotten steadily more capable but humans' expectations that robots should have minds keeps biting robot developers."

Which is to say that Hanson wants Zeno to change robots and humans.

Zeno has charmed visitors at Wired's NextFest tech celebration for the last two years, including an ongoing run in the 2008 pavilion in Chicago's Millennium park (open through Oct. 12).

Still, Zeno is clearly a work in progress, prone to hip problems, battery issues or overly long diatribes about the singularity, when a wink or smile would be more charming.

Zeno already does "know" people, and in his mind, has a knowledge container that stores a photo of the person and details about that person. The next step is getting Zeno to start making theories about the world, discarding the dumb ones and amplifying the plausible ones.

That, according to Hanson, is the essence of intelligence, and once a robot can combine that ability with the knowledge available on the internet, superintelligence won't be far off.

Hanson Robotics hopes to begin selling a mass market version of Zeno for about $300 starting sometime in 2010.
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25 responses // Toy robot intended to save humans from evil, future bots

  •  

    Super intelligent they can be so once 'goodness' is programmed into them its inevitable that 'greed' and 'power' will probably be something they will learn from their human examples

    yayi1
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    I would like to believe that robots/A.I. will be friendly towards us in the future, but I've been watching the Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles. I just can't get over the fact that some asshole robots want to hunt us down to extinction. This bothers me a little. I'm not saying all robots will be bad. Hell, this little guy looks pretty cool. But, who knows what lurks in the minds of machines. They could be our best friend one minute, and try to enslave us the next. It will put them at the top of the food chain.

    Just like the Lion King, it's the circle of life

    Hakuna Matata

    blamblaw
  •  

    For the last time.
    Sure robot friends are nice and all.
    But...
    SEX ROBOTS FOR EVERYONE >_<

    deeblackangel
    1 response to this
  •  

    When AI becomes more intelligent than we are they won't have a need to enslave the human race.
    Forget earth, the universe will be available for their unlimited expansion.

    asinine_cloud
  •  

    Very cool and extraordinarily creepy. . .

    nickwe3d
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    Hold the phone! I don't even own a Pleo yet! I'm not ready for Zeno!

    I went to Wired's 2005 NextFest event back when I was a Chicagoan. NextFest is like this awesome World's Fair thing; if consumer robotics thrills your imagination, you HAVE to go.

    jennatar
  •  

    this can very easily lead to civil rights issues

    ROBOT REVOLUTION!

    rainbowryan420
  •  

    mankind's last great invention was the computer and the internet. Read up on the singularity to see that the next paradigm shift in the exponential growth of technology will be the rise of AI and the merging of bionic and nonbionic organisms to create a new kind of human, or a humanoid. It's kind of scary, but generations into the future would think back on our reasoning for wanting to stay purely organic and laugh, just like we might laugh at people in the 1700's who might say driving cars and having cell phones is too complicated a life to live.

    Ryz0n
  •  

    I'm not sure whether to be excited or frightened...

    videogirl_mai
  •  

    Thank to Zeus.. Greece words Zeno!!!! So worthness
    Kosher Zeno in Future Doctrine!!!
    Greco=Greek !!!!!!

    Lajon53
  •  

    "When roboticist David Hanson thinks of the future, he fears that man will accidentally create a super-sentient artificial intelligence that is heartless and clinically insane."

    Read that a couple of more times. Then ask yourself "why am I still on this page?"

    Hollow_Eyes
  •  

    Somehow this is convincing me that the prevention from evil will fail with this exact invention.

    Although it looks cool.

    limeyfather
    1 response to this
  •  

    What happens when it looks out onto the world and all of society's ills, and then realizes that mankind is not worth it's protection?

    lifestudentno83
    1 response to this
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    We are going in the wrong direction. Creating A.I. in our own image is flawed, as we are flawed. We can't even live among ourselves, without disasterous effects, i.e. theft, rape, murder, war, etc...

    I hate that free will unlitmately leads to a tangle of good and evil consequences...but that's how it is.

    Whiteraven
    1 response to this
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    I can see them using these robots as soldiers as first by if these robots can function with a sort of emotion and free will- But to mimic humans in the form of a steel can is playing god and we just are going to have to pay the consequences later for this...

    aliquid_
  •  

    "When roboticist David Hanson thinks of the future, he fears that man will accidentally create a super-sentient artificial intelligence that is heartless and clinically insane."

    Sounds like someone's been watching too much Terminator and The Matrix.

    MiguelSanchez
  •  
    http://www.hansonrobotics.com/
    Image...

    The video of the Zeno is cool...aside from the constant crunching. haha.

    That's amazing...learning names and such and knowing people...pretty cool and it does remind me of AI. I am one of the few that I know that actually like that movie. ha.

    J_Jammer
  •  

    I-robot in real life

    jonny2times
  •  

    What if Zeno goes all Chucky on us, huh? I'm scared. lol. All we'd need is electro-mag pulse guns to stop bots....
    Maybe we've all just seen the Terminator one too many times.

    Denica_Cassandra
  •  

    I dont think robots are ment to be in this world, cuz then something goes wrong and they end up taking over us...

    Jovanny
  •  

    This little guy is pretty cool.

    AngelisaJosalisa

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