@Dave: First of all… Hi Dave Next, I do agree with your observation, but I was especially aiming at this in relation to what the AI-Xprize asks for. Even my own project will eventually go through stages of ‘personal development’, but I would not enter the Xprize before it will be at the level that is asked for by the challenge given.

@Vince: Your project is very interesting as it clearly shares some fundamental thoughts and ideas with my project. Although the basics of our projects are clearly different (I’m not working with virtual neural nets), it would be interesting to see where you go with this.

Andrew Smith - Mar 22, 2014:

The state of the art in mechanical robot performances still leaves a bit to be desired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcZJqiUrbnI

Wow!  Amazing how that HRP-4C fembot keeps its balance while dancing.  Japanese research just keeps getting better and better.

Andrew Smith - Mar 22, 2014:

The state of the art in mechanical robot performances still leaves a bit to be desired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcZJqiUrbnI

I wouldn’t say that’s the state of the art. This comes closer (and shows we are pretty much getting there already):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mclbVTIYG8E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD6Okylclb8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KxjVlaLBmk

@Hans

I guess we’ll have to wait until someone actually invents the “arc reactor” before we see them finally ditch the “extension cord” though…;-)

Vince

Vincent Gilbert - Mar 26, 2014:

I guess we’ll have to wait until someone actually invents the “arc reactor” before we see them finally ditch the “extension cord” though…;-)

Totally agree. The biggest hurdle to take (I think) is to build something that does it with the same energy efficiency as nature does it

* laughs * yeah, there is that “minor” obstacle. It is still impressive however!

Well, talking about energy consumption in robots, there are some very interesting developments that move away from the ‘big lump of metal and motors’ idea.

Human-like skeleton:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmOO_ghwVII

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dpB1yHxkuA

Passive dynamic walker:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdK7opXqoro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhu2xNIpgDE

To be honest, I can’t see the robotics side featuring high on the judges’ wishlist. It seems more a competition of AI than robotics.

Cool stuff Hans!
I was working partly in robotics in the mid to late nineties, some animatronics for the film industry (claim to cimenatic fame was part of the robotic Tony Todd in Candyman day of the dead.)  and I ended up at a company which was deaing in part with research of this kind. We built something similar (built on a plastic med school type repro skeleton), and tried using SMA bundled artificial muscles, embedded matrix electrically reactive polymers, etc… What worked best (at that time) was linear actuators in the chest cavity, transmitting motion to contact points through synthetic “tendons”, with the energy source mounted in the pelvis to get a stable center of gravity. We still ended up tethered. Im sure the state of the art has moved past what we were doing, and these examples are pretty impressive!, I think the problem still boils down to that basic formula for horsepower. Really it’s pretty much all torsional. (hand holding object rotating at elbow lifts against gravity). You can reduce loss by lightening the frame, and certainly modern materials (carbon fiber nano tubes etc…) make it easier to do so without significantly weakening it, but….like the tin man in the wizard of oz, the android we are all thinking of, needs a heart.  Really impresive mechanics in those examples!

V

Steve Worswick - Mar 26, 2014:

To be honest, I can’t see the robotics side featuring high on the judges’ wishlist. It seems more a competition of AI than robotics.

That remains to be seen, as the actual rules are still ‘to be determend’.

I found the opinions in this article quite interesting: The roboticist sees intelligence in robotic tasks, while the AI expert sees no intelligence to any kind of conversation. (For defining intelligence, see Vince’s topic. Also see: “True Scotsman”)

Ryan Adams said that the set-up would reveal little about artificial intelligence. True intelligence, he said, is about adapting, learning, making decisions under uncertainty and achieving objectives. “Giving a speech and then ‘answering questions’ doesn’t address any of these issues.”

Murray Shanahan, a roboticist at Imperial College London, suggested a better test.  Having the robot go to a stranger’s home and make tea would test motor control, object recognition and problem solving – “the hallmarks of intelligence.”
A system that answers questions after the speech would be even more compelling, said Shanahan.

From how the contest is described so far, I expect robotics to be an encouraged aspect. It is defined as a TED talk: part intellectual, part showbusiness. Robots and standing ovations are definitely suggested for their showbiz factor. What worries me in that is that this might turn into robot comedy night: A wow’ing physical display of gestures has a definite added advantage in swaying the crowd. Though perhaps not the judges.

I sent them a suggestion as below.

Two questions can not reflect the true level of the AI system. It provides a big space for the teams to “game” the vote. At this stage, the true AIs are still like babies or kids. Please imagine, when we ask two university level questions to a group of kids, can we find the smartest kid by their answers?

To find the smartest kid in a group of kids, we need to ask them kid level questions at first. Then we ask primary school level questions, middle school level questions before we ask them the final hard questions.

Besides, to recognize the true AI system, the questions can not be only single questions. An AI system should be able to combine the information in the context and the background to answer the questions. So we need more application questions. For example,

Single question:
When was the White House built?

Application question:
The house was built when I was born.
I am 30 years old.
When was the house built?

Normally, the single questions can only reflect the size of the database and the search algorithms. But the application questions can recognize the systems with true AI.

I suggest. Ask 10 questions at least in three levels equivalent to the intelligent of babies/kids, primary schools school students and high school students/adults.
Level 1: For kids/babies. One single question and three application questions.
Level 2: For primary school students. One single question and three application questions.
Level 3: For high school students/adults. One single question and one application question.

Only when a system pass the first level, it can reach the second level. Similarly, only when it pass the second level, it can get to the third level.

Here is the first paper written by (temporarily named SAIL) It’s quite a way from being a TED talk. As part of the experiment, the paper was submitted for review to an accredited educator here in the US who was not told that it was prepared by a machine, only that the student was told to prepare a speech on a topic which would be delivered in front of the class, it had to include biographical references, they could use the Internet but it could not be a direct copy of online material, they had to include a section on what they liked and disliked. The educator was asked to assess the students grade level, and performance for that grade. The assessment was that this was a K7 K8 student, that was not explaining their conclusions in a satisfactory manner.  Not bad, we were expecting to see a lower grade level assessed at a higher performance level, but it amounts to the same assessment. The next version goes the “why” I came to these conclusions. The D-GANG has been added to the online versions neural net at http://www.risoftdev.com if anyone would like to give it a try. Click on SAIL. Use the syntax “please prepare a short paper on [subject]” As we are trying to limit how this is accessed, you have to use this exact syntax. Performance is somewhat sketchy, but can be hilarious as well. The first paper will be posted below.

Vince

begin paper———————————————————————————

Thank you ladies and gentleman and good afternoon. I am honored to be talking to you here in Yachats, Oregon. I will be giving a dissertation on richard nixon this afternoon, I understand that I have three minutes. Before getting started, I would like to provide you with come background information on richard nixon. I see that it is 12:54 PM, so let’s get started. Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974, when he became the only president to relinquish the office. Nixon had anteriorly served as a Republican U.S. Representative and Senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961.

Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. He graduated from Whittier College in 1934 and Duke University School of Law in 1937, returning to California to practice law. He and his wife, Pat Nixon, move to Washington to work for the federal government in 1942. He later served in the United States Navy during World War II. Nixon was elected in California to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the Senate in 1950. His shadowing of the Alger Hiss case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist, and elevated him to national prominence. He was the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 1952 election. Nixon served for eight years as vice president. He an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1960, marginally losing to John F. Kennedy, and lost a race for Governor of California in 1962. In 1968, he ran again for the presidency and was elected.

Although Nixon initially relent America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, he afterward (or afterwards) ended U.S. involvement by 1973. Nixon’s visit to the People’s Republic of China in 1972 opened communications between the two nations and eventually led to the of diplomatic relations. He initiated détente and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union the same year. Domestically, his administration generally clasp policies that transferred power from Washington to the states. Among other things, he launched initiatives to fight cancer and illegal drugs, imposed wage and price controls, enforced desegregation of Southern schools, apply environmental reforms, and introduced legislation to reform healthcare and welfare. Though he presided over the lunar landings preparative with Apollo 11, he replaced manned space exploration with shuttle missions. He was re-elected by a landslide in 1972.

Nixon’s second term saw a clutch in the Middle East, resulting in an oil embargo and the restart of the Middle East peace process, as well as a continuing series of revelations about the Watergate scandal. The scandal escalated, costing Nixon much of his political support, and on August 9, 1974, he resigned in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office. After his resignation, he accepted a pardon issued by his successor, Gerald Ford. In retirement, Nixon’s work as an elder statesman, authoring nine books and undertaking pledge foreign trips, helped to reclaim his public image. He suffered a debilitate stroke on April 18, 1994, and sigh (for) four days later at the age of 81.

These are the things that I liked about richard nixon [1] Before getting started, I would like to provide you with come background information on richard nixon

These are the things that I did not like about richard nixon [1] Nixon had anteriorly served as a Republican U S Representative and Senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 [2] He was the running mate of Dwight D Eisenhower, the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 1952 election

Thank you

—————————————————————————

I tried it with the following results:

What’s your name:>>Please prepare a paper on fly fishing
SAIL:>>I didn’t understand that. Please try saying it again. I will try to answer any questions that you have, but please remember that this interface is designed primarily to answer questions about RISOFTDEV inc. And its products and technologies.

I have to assume that the capital “P” at the beginning triggered the unsatisfactory answer? Because this is the result when I used the “exact syntax”:

What’s your name:>>please prepare a short paper on fly fishing
SAIL:>>Thank you ladies and gentleman and good evening. I am honored to be talking to you here in Yachats, Oregon. I will be giving a dissertation on fly fishing this evening, I understand that I have three minutes.
I would like to give you some background on fly fishing to get started. It appears that it is 7:32 PM, so let’s get started.

These are the things that I liked about fly fishing
[1] I would like to give you some background on fly fishing to get started

These are the things that I did not like about fly fishing
Actually I was unable to form a positive opinion on fly fishing
Thank you

Should I have restricted my query to historical figures?

Let’s try something else, just in case:

What’s your name:>>please prepare a paper on artificial intelligence
SAIL:>>I didn’t catch all of that, sorry. It sounded like you were asking me about art.

and finally:

What’s your name:>>please prepare a paper on Bill Gates
SAIL:>>I will try to answer any questions that you have, but please remember that this interface is designed primarily to answer questions about RISOFTDEV inc. And its products and technologies. What I am trying to say is, I did not understand what you meant. My apologies.

Hmmm…

Maybe the “case” thing again?

What’s your name:>>please prepare a paper on bill gates
SAIL:>>You already said that and I answered ” I will try to answer any questions that you have, but please remember that this interface is designed primarily to answer questions about RISOFTDEV inc. And its products and technologies. What I am trying to say is, I did not understand what you meant. My apologies. “

I dunno.

[edit]
I see what went wrong in some of the examples above. I forgot the word “short”. My bad. I’ll revise my queries and try again.
[/edit]