Talking Robots: Frederic Kaplan

Posted 25 Mar 2008 at 12:06 UTC (updated 25 Mar 2008 at 12:17 UTC) by mwaibel

Brains and computers show important differences, such as those discussed in the post just below. However, these differences go beyond the way in which data is stored and processed; they also extend to how this data is acquired in the first place. Much of the data stored in brains is acquired by learning, which in most implementations is fundamentally different in computers than in brains. Frederic Kaplan studies learning in robots and is especially interested in the trait that drives learning: Curiosity. He has developed a "curiosity engine" for Sony's AIBO robot. Interestingly, learning in a children's playpen the robot shows some similarities with how children's brains acquire information: Both show organized pattern of exploring the environment, partition the world into different objects and allow to progressively learn tasks with increasing complexity. More on these differences and similarities in the latest Talking Robots interview.