The Internet’s Biggest Questions About Robots, Answered by Caltech’s Aaron Ames
by Andrew Moseman
Robots have a way of inspiring far-out science fiction–inspired thought experiments. Can a robot perform heart surgery? What are robot dogs even for? Should we be afraid of a dystopian AI future like the one featured in the Terminator movies?
Aaron Ames, Bren Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Control and Dynamical Systems, and Aerospace, loves these future-facing questions. And as the leadership chair and director of Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST), which has developed all manner of experimental robots, he has seen the developments that will help to answer them. Which is undoubtedly why Wired magazine recently asked Ames to appear in a video to answer internet users’ burning questions about what’s coming in robotics and AI.
On the Terminator-type future, in which a sentient AI turns on humanity, Ames says there are really two questions at play. Yes, AI will make mistakes and do bad things if given the power to do so, he says, which is why it shouldn’t be entrusted with something like weapons systems. “In my opinion, you can never trust AI,” he said. “But you can use AI as a powerful tool.” The second part of the question, the thing that would lead to a sci-fi dystopia, involves an AI becoming truly sentient and intelligent. “I don’t think we’re anywhere near that. I have no concern over sentient AI. Right now, AI is not intelligent.”
Several other questions asked about the shape and mobility of robots. Why make them like us, walking on two legs and using two arms, when they could be a different shape or ride upon wheels, which would be easier to build? The thing to remember is that the world is built for us, Ames explained. It may be more difficult to build a robot that can successfully walk on two legs and use two arms to manipulate objects, but that machine will be so much more capable in our current built environment: able to climb ladders, open doors, and step over uneven curbs and broken sidewalks. “Humanoid robots are the most suited to do the most things, even if they’re not the best suited to do any given thing,” he said.
Throughout the clip, Ames answered questions about how autonomous vehicles work, why quadruped robots have legs that bend backward, and what he would build if he had unlimited money. His answer? A robot exoskeleton to help injured people move around. “A billion could get it done,” he said. “A billion, in my mind, could build something that would eradicate the need for wheelchairs.”