Cute little incredibly disturbing robots learn to empathize with their human overlords, the better to conquer them with (disturbing) cuteness:

Much like a human child, the robot learns from experience how to respond to emotions displayed by people around it.

If someone shows fear or cries out in pain, the robot may learn to change its behaviour to appear less threatening, backing away if necessary. If someone cries out in happiness, it may even detect the difference, and one day fine-tune its responses to individuals.

“It’s mostly behavioural and contact feedback,” project coordinator Dr Lola Canamero is quoted as saying in a BBC News story on Feelix Growing. “Tactile feedback and emotional feedback through positive reinforcement, such as kind words, nice behaviour or helping the robot do something if it is stuck,” she said.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 8:54 pm and is filed under Bill Joy Might Be Right, Robot Overlords. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.