A Robot With Empathy? - By: Robert Paterson

A recent article in Science Daily announced that there are now some new robots currently being developed that can empathize with a human. They can read a person's emotional state and adjust their behavior accordingly.

The article says, "Using cameras and sensors, the very simple robots being built by the researchers – using mostly off-the-shelf parts – can detect different parameters, such as a person's facial expressions, voice, and proximity to determine emotional state." These robots are apparently also capable of learning from experience.

It's amazing isn't it? But my only worry is about those misunderstandings. You know the ones I mean, the misunderstandings that arise from a misinterpretation of the signals we're getting from another person? Haven't all of us experienced that kind of thing on a first date, for example?

Or look at the tangle we can all find ourselves getting into with words. Person A doesn't express themselves with complete precision, Person B is probably only half listening anyway. And probably some of the words convey a different meaning to both of them.

Yes I know these new robots are not dealing with word interpretations, but facial expressions and sounds like a cry or a laugh. But surely the extension of these empathic robots to words is only just around the next corner.

The robots we already have are too intrusive and very over-helpful as it is. I'm thinking particularly of those robot programs that offer to take over for you when you're typing a document or logging in to a secure website. Or the robots that automatically dump into the junk folder that email from your Great-Aunt Lucy that she finally got around to writing, and then not telling you about it.

I think after all, I was happier with the robot in Lost in Space. Whenever it couldn't cope with a human reaction, it just said in a metallic voice, "I am not programmed in that area."

About the Author

Robert Paterson writes on many different subjects. To see more about Robotics, just click on this link http://phe-robotics.blogspot.com/

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