down the avenue: David Hanson: Machine Versus Human

FAVORITE QUOTES

Only Those Who See the Invisible, Can Do The Impossible
The Age of your Heart is the Age of what you Love - Marcel Prévost
Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I'll understand.
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one opening before us. -Helen Keller
The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity. -Leo Tolstoy
Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets. -Paul Tournier
They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. -Carl W. Buechner
Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The foolish reject what they see, the wise reject what they think
Imagination is more important than knowledge - Albert Einstein
When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you - Lao-tzu
The world surrenders to a quiet mind
It is a funny thing about life: If you refuse to accept anything but the best you very often get it - Somerset Maugham
"At the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you." Goethe

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September 02, 2010

David Hanson: Machine Versus Human

I had a chance to talk to David Hanson of Hanson Robotics in-depth at the Singularity Summit in San Francisco on August 14. He holds the view that humans want robots to look, feel and sound human - after all, asking humans to think otherwise would be asking humans to re-wire the way they think.

The conversation that unfortunately didn't make it into the video was around robot(ic) behavior - robots versus humans, more specifically robots versus actors. We were talking about some of the best actors who actually ARE the character, they don't go INTO character. The two that immediately came to my mind are both women: Meryl Streep and Glenn Close. Both of them draw you into their character and make you believe nothing else exists BUT the CHARACTER.

I could imagine a world where you could buy a product that could be programmed to a particular character. I'd love an 'open source' robot like the PR2s that Willow Garage are building, and the ability to separately buy a program that enables the robot to go into a specific personality, just like I buy a DVD movie today. When I'm in a different 'personality mood,' I simply change it. What about other human aspects? Listen to David thinks about these topics.