Researchers from the Leibniz University of Hannover recently announced they are teaching robots to feel pain. Through the development of an artificial nervous system, robots will be better able to detect danger, and better protect humans, too. (via Leibniz University of Hannover)
To what extent would we treat robots differently if robots felt pain? We will soon have to answer that question, as researchers from Germany’s Leibniz University recently announced the development of an artificial nervous system that will make robots more like us.
Researchers have already expressed concern over the similarities between artificial intelligence and the human psyche. Can we compete for jobs? Will we have to worry about a robot uprising, as was depicted in I, Robot? It’s a real concern, as Americans are already losing jobs to robots due to advancements in mechanical and electrical engineering that give humans little room to compete. For Leibniz professors and researchers Johannes Kuehn and Sami Haddadin, this is only the beginning.
At this year’s IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Stockholm, Sweden, Haddadin and Kuehn gave a presentation about the development of an artificial nervous system, and why it’s important in ensuring both robot and human safety.
The ability to feel pain protects humans from harm. Even involuntary reflex actions protect us against infliction. Our ability to gauge temperature through the skin protects us from getting burned. If robots, particularly robots working alongside researchers, could also detect significant increases in temperature or pressure, robots could warn humans against workplace dangers.
Aside from the obvious benefit of better protecting our expensive and complex robots from physical damage, teaching robots to feel pain could also theoretically allow the machines to “learn” about potential hazards. If further developed, robots could even inform their own design to prevent overheating. Robots could also minimize risk of bumping into nearby objects (say, humans), and enhance the development of the machines and environments upon and within which robots work.
Is it science fiction to think robots will inch closer to replacing us? Haddadin and Kuehn think so.
Haddadin is one of the leading minds on physical human-robot interaction and safety. He has dedicated his entire career to the safe interactions between robots and humans, and he believes giving robots a sense of touch will actually better protect humans from both workplace hazards, and the risk of robot-on-human injury (which does not happen often, but it does happen).
In a recent video sneak peek, researchers showed that its artificial nervous system prototype allowed a Kuka robotic arm to detect pressure, the severity of that pressure, and dangerously high temperatures. In the future, researchers hope to equip robots with the ability to instinctively respond to threats in an appropriate manner that allows it to protect itself and those around it from physical risks.
It is certainly alarming to think robotic development will continue to mimic humans more closely (some robots are even designed to look exactly like us). Still, as robots become more common in the workplace, it’s important a countermeasure be developed so at the very least robots can “feel” our presence, and take caution.
Whether or not Haddadin and Kuehn took inspiration from DC’s super villain Pain Bot remains to be seen.
Would it give us pleasure to know robots could only feel pain? If so, who is the real monster?
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