Today in incremental developments towards SKYNET: Lockheed Martin is working on developing a totally autonomous spy robot that avoids detection by hiding when it ‘thinks’ it is in danger of being discovered. To do this, it creates an internal 3D map of the world around it using an invisible laser scanner, detects nearby footsteps and their direction using a microphone, and even models human lines of sight. In essence, Metal Gear Solid is coming to real life and becoming a spy robot.
“Lockheed Martin’s approach does include a sort of basic theory of mind, in the sense that the robot makes assumptions about how to act covertly in the presence of humans,” says Alan Wagner of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, who works on artificial intelligence and robot deception.
But the level at which the robot’s software operates is probably limited to task-specific instructions such as, “if you hear a noise, scurry to the nearest dark corner”, he says. That’s not sophisticated enough to hide from humans in varied environments.
“Significant AI will be needed to develop a robot which can act covertly in a general setting,” Wagner says. “The robot will need to consider its own shape and size, to have the ability to navigate potential paths, [to be aware of] each person’s individual line of view, the impact that its movement will have on the environment, and so on.”
The U.S. Department of Defense is interested.
(New Scientist via /.)
