Toy robots are no longer a myth or a fantasy, but part of our reality. With technological progress, robots with artificial intelligence are gradually entering our lives, whether we like it or not. Just a couple of years ago among such toys we could see only moving figures, reproducing a certain set of sounds, words or sentences. And now we see complex and high-tech models, equally interesting not only for children, but also for adults. Are they useful, or do they harm the children’s psyche, let’s sort it out.
The term “artificial intelligence” is quite difficult to explain. Robots with artificial intelligence should be able to explore the world around them, distinguish emotions and show them independently, solve complex problems, answer questions, recognize faces and various objects. In fact, artificial intelligence is needed to replicate and simulate human activity, which is defined as intelligent.
Let’s look at a few examples
Take toys such as Furby or FurReal. They are the ones that have caused a stir among buyers recently. These “weirdos” are able to respond to human touch (they have built-in sensors), make some sounds, independently turn off in the absence of action. However, all of these are preprogrammed functions, actions and reactions. They are autonomous, not requiring the presence of analysis and synthesis, the basis of intelligence. We conclude that these are just robot toys, which alas… have no artificial intelligence.
Now let’s look at another example: the Cozmo robot, which has the ability to recognize faces, read other people’s emotions and is able to show its own. It can navigate in space, is equipped with a self-learning system and computer vision – we can safely call it a robot with artificial intelligence.
Advantages of robot toys with artificial intelligence:
- Toys are able to communicate and can become your child’s friend.
- They look like people and can react to what’s going on around them.
- Loyal friends who can brighten up your loneliness.
- Can become a companion in games, not imaginary, but very real!
- Perform a learning function and become a good tutor for the child.
- Robot toys can have inductive learning settings. This means that over time, their program improves and becomes better, thanks to the analysis of input and output data, finding connections between them and their analysis.
- The ability of artificial intelligence to recognize people, call their names, respond to facial expressions and show the same emotions in response is a distinct advantage over conventional interactive toys.
Cozmo robot
Distinctive features
What is the first thing we pay attention to? The eyes, right. In them we are trying to discern the essence of the creature, which is in front of us. To anticipate its actions. And the more realistic they are, the more interest and trust we will have in the object. As a rule, developers spend a lot of time on the eyes of the robot. Of course, they don’t look like real ones, but they are full of emotions and can express everything that is going on “inside” the robot and are understandable to a person on an intuitive level. For example, if you decide to be rude or negative to your friend with artificial intelligence, the robot may well get offended and turn away from you. If you pick it up unexpectedly, it may freeze, as if it were frightened, and the display will have its eyes looking around awkwardly in different directions. Or here’s another example, having lost in a game, he can easily get angry or even make a scene, like a real child.
That’s right! Some robot models with artificial intelligence know how to play various games. And these are games in which you need to calculate the situation beforehand, taking into account the moves of your opponent. Some robots have no equal at chess, others can play “word games”, and some – games of dexterity and quick reaction. And since they have quite complex programs in their memory, it will be quite difficult to beat such an opponent. Artificial Intelligence is many times superior to humans in solving complex problems, as it has access to the analysis of large data and the ability to remember large amounts of information.