Pass a Self-Awareness Test
A trio of robots at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York has passed the classic ‘wise men puzzle’ test of self-awareness. Selmer Bringsjord, a roboticist, set up a situation in which two robots were prevented from talking, while one was still able to speak. The three robots were asked which one was still able to talk, but only one succeeded at replying, “I don’t know.” Once the robot realized it wasn’t one of the two silenced, it said, “Sorry, I know now!” Since all three robots were coded the same, researchers assume that all three passed the self-awareness test. Bringsjord’s research will be presented in Japan from August 31 to September 4 at the RO-MAN conference.
While this task might not sound difficult for a human, being able to solve a logical puzzle like this one is vital in creating robots that understand their role in society. The development of a robot with human-like abilities, this being just one of many tests of this type, will become useful in a variety of ways when all of the abilities are combined.
