✦

直播介绍

✦

Joshua Bongard

佛蒙特大学

Embodying intelligence in rigid, soft,and biological robots

ABSTRACT

There are two paths our society is pursuing in the quest to create intelligent machines: non-embodied AI and embodied AI. Recent advances in non-embodied AI include ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion. These AI systems do not have a body with which to learn about the world. Because of this, such systems struggle to achieve common sense, and grow beyond the data they were trained on. Researchers in the field of embodied AI believe that machines must have a body with which to push against the world, and observe how the world pushes back. These experiences provide the fertile soil in which true intelligence can grow. In this talk, I will demonstrate how the body can help machines to think better, by exploring rigid, then soft, then biological robots. Along the way we will see how machines are becoming more capable of physical flexibility – the ability to change their bodies – and how this enables them to achieve mental flexibility – the ability to change their minds. I will conclude by describing the likely future for such embodied intelligences.

我们的社会在追求创造智能机器的过程中有两条路：非实体人工智能和实体人工智能。非实体人工智能的最新进展包括 ChatGPT 和稳定扩散。这些人工智能系统没有可以用来了解世界的躯体。正因为如此，这类系统很难获得常识，其发展也无法超越它们所训练的数据。具身人工智能领域的研究人员认为，机器必须有一个身体来推动世界，并观察世界是如何反击的。这些经历为真正智能的成长提供了肥沃的土壤。在本讲座中，我将通过对刚性机器人、柔性机器人和生物机器人的探索，展示身体如何帮助机器更好地思考。在这个过程中，我们将看到机器是如何变得越来越具有身体灵活性（即改变身体的能力），以及这又是如何使它们实现思维灵活性（即改变思维的能力）的。最后，将讨论具身智能体的可能未来。

BIOGRAPHY

Joshua Bongard is the Veinott Professor of Computer Science at the University of Vermont, where he runs the Morphology, Evolution & Cognition Laboratory. His lab creates AI, robots, and computer designed organisms (so-called “xenobots”). He received a research award from former president Barack Obama at a ceremony at the White House in 2011, appeared in an episode of Morgan Freeman’s science program ‘Through the Wormhole’, was named as one of MIT Technology Review’s Top 35 Under 35, and received the Cozzarelli Prize from the National Academy of Sciences. He has appeared on CNN and his work has been covered by The New York Times, The New Yorker, and the BBC. He is also the author of the book “How The Body Shapes the Way We Think” and runs the Ludobots online course through reddit.com.

Joshua Bongard是佛蒙特大学计算机科学维诺特教授，负责管理形态、进化与认知实验室。他的实验室创造人工智能、机器人和计算机设计生物（即所谓的 "异种机器人"）。2011 年，他在白宫举行的颁奖仪式上获得了前总统巴拉克-奥巴马颁发的研究奖，并出现在摩根-弗里曼的科学节目《穿越虫洞》中，入选《麻省理工科技评论》35 岁以下 35 强，还获得了美国国家科学院颁发的科扎雷利奖（Cozzarelli Prize）。他曾在美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）上露面，《纽约时报》、《纽约客》和英国广播公司都报道过他的作品。他还是《身体如何塑造我们的思维方式》一书的作者，并在 reddit.com 上开设了 Ludobots 在线课程。