IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - June 2015 - 4

from the editor's Desk

Robots Don't Pray
By Eugenio Guglielmelli

H

istorically, the evolution of research in the areas of robotics
and artificial intelligence (AI)
has always been related, although with different intensity along the
years. The concept of AI was originally developed around the basic idea of an artificial mind, mainly capable of formal, logic
analysis of structured knowledge, and designed to be embedded in computational
systems. Until the 1980s, a benchmark for
an artificial mind was beating the world's
best chess player, without any need to generate and control movements and forces in
the real world. The famous Turing test was
about the capability of a computer to give
correct, humanlike answers to ordinary
questions-while being hidden behind a
curtain. It happened just a few years ago
that a computer won a popular television
show providing correct answers to a variety of questions directly interpreted from
natural spoken language. Actually, Turing
himself proposed a variety of visionary
scenarios where also the body, not just the
mind, was part of the process of developing intelligence. Along this line, a milestone for both robotics and AI research
domains was the seminal paper by Rodney A. Brooks, "Elephants Don't Play
Chess" (Rob. And Aut. Syst., 1990), which
states that perception can be turned in action without any needs of abstract, formal
mediation, and logical reasoning. It was
the genesis of reactive robotics: perception
and, progressively, embodiment become
the central focus of an increasing portion
of robotics research, the basis for the de-

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MRA.2015.2430991
Date of publication: 18 June 2015

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june 2015

velopment of machines capable
of synthetizing and adapting
their behavior in real-time to
their working environment. To
be brief, it took a while but,
eventually, the artificial mind and
the artificial body are being considered of
equal importance when dealing with the
problem of developing humanlike intelligent systems.
Of note, in the last decades, there has
been increasing attention posed by heterogeneous communities to concepts
such as technological singularity (i.e., artificial overcoming human intelligence),
artificial life, transhumanism, and immortality. In principle this is in line with
the visions about cybernetic systems
originally proposed by Wiener, Turing
and others back in the middle of the last
century. What is new in these old speculations, which were so far confined in
science fiction, is that they are supposed
to be now systematically pursued by exploiting also the expected advancements
of AI robotics and automation technology for building a new type of agent, featuring different levels of integration
between biological and artificial components. For instance, the 2045 initiative
(www.2045.com) has developed a roadmap for achieving the implant of a
human brain in an artificial body by that
year; the Singularity and Humanity+ initiatives are planning to run universities
worldwide and sponsor research projects
to groups joining the overall philosophy
and sharing the vision of immortality enabled by technology, which is in parallel
somehow elaborated from a theoretical,
transdisciplinary perspective. To some

extent, this seems a kind of
new religion: you need to be a
follower in order to be part of
an effort apparently supported not just by some groups of
naïve researchers, but also by
large companies and a variety of sponsors that are providing a significant
amount of financial and logistic resources currently used to build an increasing
network of partners worldwide.
To me, all of this effort seems not only
quite weak from a scientific and technological viewpoint but also very dangerous
for the negative and misleading perception that it can generate in society about
the ultimate research aims and ethical
background of our community. I believe
that it is important to raise awareness in
our Society and in IEEE at large about
these initiatives. This is perfectly feasible
and timely, as demonstrated by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial
Intelligence (AAAI), which has recently
promoted a dialogue with The Future of
Life Institute, another private initiative
that promotes research so "to ensure that
AI systems are robust and beneficial,
doing what humans want them to do"
(futureoflife.org). IEEE Robotics & Automation Society and AAAI co-operation
to foster convergence of AI and robotics
is ongoig (see p. 106 for a report on recent activities). And I am happy to know
that IEEE Technology and Society Magazine is already very active and interested
to join IEEE RAM in this effort. For now,
let us enjoy the exciting and reassuring
features on the emerging advances of automation selected for you by the guest
editors of this special issue!
http://www.futureoflife.org http://www.2045.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - June 2015
