The humans at the heart of AI

Sami Haddadin runs a'robot kindergarten' where intelligent machines learn from each other.Credit: Technical University of Munich "AI and robotics development pull us right into the heart of what it is to be human," says Sami Haddadin, founding director of the Munich School of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MSRM) at TUM. "We're not looking to usher in an'age of automatons'. Rather, we hope to enable a smooth transition to an age of human- machine interaction." MSRM's research agenda covers the understanding of humans in order to develop intelligent machines that can, in turn, help humans. Haddadin gives an example: give a young child a key and, within around 20 tries, they can unlock a door. A child's intuitive ability to manipulate a tool is one aspect, but they also watch and learn from adults.