In Our Image: Why do we keep making robots that look like us?

Just like humans, they come in all shapes, sizes, and attitudes. Tall and slender like C3PO; short and squatty like R2D2; evil like HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey; childlike and playful, like Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kismet. But as “Tech Live” reports tonight, the robot world has always struggled with one basic concept: “The latent goal of artificial intelligence researchers has always been to build something as intelligent, as human-like, as we are,” said MIT’s Rodney Brooks, a robotics pioneer.

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MIT’s Kismet is a classic example of where robotics research is headed. Its four cameras help it see. Twenty-one motors in its face and 15 separate computers help the robot convey the illusion of emotions such as happiness, fear, surprise, and disgust.

And more than just reacting emotionally, researchers are working on creating a refined, artificial personality so the robot can provide a kind of companionship.

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“Being able to recognize the difference between a dog and a cat reliably; every 2-year-old kid can do it, no machine can do it,” said author David Stork, who wrote HAL’s Legacy, which is about how robots and artificial intelligence will impact culture in the near future.

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