Robotics and artificial intelligence are both growing at a rapid rate. What robots can do today is far more advanced than what they could do only a few years ago. It is important to realize that the advancements in robotics are helping to push our society forward. Lately, researchers have been teaching robots to understand the concept of ownership. While this is a skill that is already mastered by most human children by the age of kindergarten, it is something that has been impossible for robots to grasp up until this point.
There are many instances where the concept of ownership would be important for a robot to know. For example, if a robot was working on the construction of a home, it would be a bad idea for that robot to steal shingles off of the neighbor’s house. Researchers have understood that this could be a problem and have been working to find a solution to robots not understanding the concept of ownership.
Recent experiments have shown some serious progress in labs with robots who have been programmed to learn what is theirs and what isn’t. In a recent experiment, a robot was told that there were many colored blocks to play with but only the red ones could be picked up and played with. All of the other colored blocks belonged to the researcher. Robots were well aware of this and left all red blocks to be played with by the researcher.
It will only be a matter of time before robots are more integrated into our society. With the auto industry as an example, there will be whole factories that are retrofitted with the robotics that it takes to bring big business to a whole new level. This will bring the cost of manufacturing down and raise the profits that corporations can make on their products.
Once robots finally understand the concept of ownership, this will be a big step. This may even be a push towards teaching robots the difference between right and wrong. Once robots are able to understand right and wrong, they could be put to use in many different settings. Only time will tell how far advanced the knowledge base of robots will be. It will be exciting to watch the rise of the robots as they continue to learn more about what it is like to exist in a society with rules and parameters.
