Search results for "Robotics and AI"
showing 8 items of 18 documents
Good Old-Fashioned Artificial Consciousness and the Intermediate Level Fallacy
2018
Recently, there has been considerable interest and effort to the possibility to design and implement conscious robots, i.e., the chance that a robot may have subjective experiences. However, typical approaches as the global workspace, information integration, enaction, cognitive mechanisms, embodiment, i.e., the Good Old-Fashioned Artificial Consciousness, henceforth, GOFAC, share the same conceptual framework. In this paper, we discuss GOFAC's basic tenets and their implication for AI and Robotics. In particular, we point out the intermediate level fallacy as the central issue affecting GOFAC. Finally, we outline a possible alternative conceptual framework towards robot consciousness.
From Focused Thought to Reveries: A Memory System for a Conscious Robot
2018
© 2018 Balkenius, Tjøstheim, Johansson and Gärdenfors. We introduce a memory model for robots that can account for many aspects of an inner world, ranging from object permanence, episodic memory, and planning to imagination and reveries. It is modeled after neurophysiological data and includes parts of the cerebral cortex together with models of arousal systems that are relevant for consciousness. The three central components are an identification network, a localization network, and a working memory network. Attention serves as the interface between the inner and the external world. It directs the flow of information from sensory organs to memory, as well as controlling top-down influences…
Integrative Biomimetics of Autonomous Hexapedal Locomotion
2019
Despite substantial advances in many different fields of neurorobotics in general, and biomimetic robots in particular, a key challenge is the integration of concepts: to collate and combine research on disparate and conceptually disjunct research areas in the neurosciences and engineering sciences. We claim that the development of suitable robotic integration platforms is of particular relevance to make such integration of concepts work in practice. Here, we provide an example for a hexapod robotic integration platform for autonomous locomotion. In a sequence of six focus sections dealing with aspects of intelligent, embodied motor control in insects and multipedal robots-ranging from comp…
Real Virtuality: A Code of Ethical ConductRecommendations for Good Scientific Practice and the Consumers of VR-Technology
2016
The goal of this article is to present a first list of ethical concerns that may arise from research and personal use of virtual reality (VR) and related technology, and to offer concrete recommendations for minimizing those risks. Many of the recommendations call for focused research initiatives. In the first part of the article, we discuss the relevant evidence from psychology that motivates our concerns. In Section “Plasticity in the Human Mind,” we cover some of the main results suggesting that one’s environment can influence one’s psychological states, as well as recent work on inducing illusions of embodiment. Then, in Section “Illusions of Embodiment and Their Lasting Effect,” we go …
Developing Self-Awareness in Robots via Inner Speech
2019
The experience of inner speech is a common one. Such a dialogue accompanies the introspection of mental life and fulfills essential roles in human behavior, such as self-restructuring, self-regulation, and re-focusing on attentional resources. Although the underpinning of inner speech is mostly investigated in psychological and philosophical fields, the research in robotics generally does not address such a form of self-aware behavior. Existing models of inner speech inspire computational tools to provide a robot with this form of self-awareness. Here, the widespread psychological models of inner speech are reviewed, and a cognitive architecture for a robot implementing such a capability is…
BVLOS UAS Operations in Highly-Turbulent Volcanic Plumes.
2020
Long-range, high-altitude Unoccupied Aerial System (UAS) operations now enable in-situ measurements of volcanic gas chemistry at globally-significant active volcanoes. However, the extreme environments encountered within volcanic plumes present significant challenges for both air frame development and in-flight control. As part of a multi-disciplinary field deployment in May 2019, we flew fixed wing UAS Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) over Manam volcano, Papua New Guinea, to measure real-time gas concentrations within the volcanic plume. By integrating aerial gas measurements with ground- and satellite-based sensors, our aim was to collect data that would constrain the emission rate of …
Self in NARS, an AGI System
2018
This article describes and discusses the self-related mechanisms of a general-purpose intelligent system, NARS. This system is designed to be adaptive and to work with insufficient knowledge and resources. The system’s various cognitive functions are uniformly carried out by a central reasoning-learning process following a “non-axiomatic” logic. This logic captures the regularities of human empirical reasoning, where all beliefs are revisable according to evidence, and the meaning of concepts are grounded in the system’s experience. NARS perceives its internal environment basically in the same way as how it perceives its external environment although the sensors involved are completely diff…
Humanoid Cognitive Robots That Learn by Imitating: Implications for Consciousness Studies.
2018
While the concept of a conscious machine is intriguing, producing such a machine remains controversial and challenging. Here we describe how our work on creating a humanoid cognitive robot that learns to perform tasks via imitation learning relates to this issue. Our discussion is divided into three parts. First, we summarize our previously-detailed framework for advancing the understanding of the nature of phenomenal consciousness. This framework is based on identifying computational correlates of consciousness. Second, we describe a cognitive robotic system that we recently developed that learns to perform tasks by imitating human-provided demonstrations. This humanoid robot uses cause-ef…