Blog about a technology or innovation of interest to you. Describe some of its details. Include three references.
Over the years, people have seen movies such as “I, Robot” that have depicted the integration of robots with artificial intelligence into society. Though there have been great advances in technology that have allowed scientists, engineers, and the occasional enthusiast to create their own models of the personal robot, it is fair to say that these replicas are nothing short of inferior. Needless to say, the lackluster replicas were never mass produced and marketed to the population.
It is reasonable to say that having a walking, talking, and “thinking” robot seems farfetched at this point, but, then again, maybe not.
Enter “Jibo”, the world’s first social, family robot.
Jibo, created by MIT professor Cynthia Breazeal, may not walk, but it can most certainly talk, “think” to certain extents, and dance. Built with various microphones and cameras, Jibo is able to “recognize faces, understand what people say, and respond in an amiable voice”. Jibo was created to help the busy family keep up with tasks, as well as communicate with each other and the outside world. Aside from the default functions that Jibo has, it was created as an ever expanding platform. The Jibo Developer Edition was created for developers to create new “skills” for Jibo, essentially making the little family robot have limitless possibilities. These new “skills” that third party developers can create are offered on Jibo’s skill store for download so that the family robot can be customized as desired. Over time, Jibo learns about individuals and is able to give personalized responses and Breazeal hopes that this will prevent Jibo from being thought of as “another gadget”, but instead as part of the family.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N1Q8oFpX1Y
As fantastic as Jibo’s creation is to many, others seem to be less enthusiastic in regards to the seemingly harmless robot. There are privacy and security concerns revolving around Jibo and many refuse to buy the robot because of it. People fear that Jibo’s ability to process and store information will mean that personal and sensitive information will be stored without them knowing. However, Breazeal has stated that Jibo will provide “visceral notice” of the collection of information.
Though there are concerns, it is interesting to see the beginning of the personal robot with Jibo, especially after all of the various futuristic films, stories, and books associated with robots over the last few decades.
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