The deep learning robot that recognizes your face

Robots are becoming more human-like faster than ever, thanks to the advances in Artificial Intelligence, especially deep learning. Take, for example, this recent blog release from Google where a team of researchers have been developing a mechanism for training a robot to grasp objects in a "non-robotic" manner. Until recently, it was a big challenge to program robots to perform human-oriented tasks, such as manipulating tools or navigating in unknown terrain. Tasks included in the DARPA Robotics Challenge relied on collecting precise sensor observations and computing complex plans-of-action without the fluidity and flexibility that humans exhibit. Rather than rely on hand-crafted and highly engineered algorithms for performing these complex tasks, researchers have begun using deep learning techniques to create a feedback mechanism that allows the robot to learn, from trial and error, the best way to perform its tasks.