The 2016 World Robot Conference is underway in Beijing, and has drawn big industry names from countries such as the United States, Japan and South Korea. One of the highlights of this year’s event are so-called “humanoid-robots,” which have the ability to accurately interact with humans.
Intelligent droid Jiajia pulled in the crowds as she demonstrated her ability to understand human language
Jiajia is an intelligent human-like robot. Developed by the University of Science and Technology of China, Jiajia has the ability of understanding human language, detecting facial expressions, and making body movements.
With uncanny physical similarities to humans, such human-like robots have been stealing the show at the 2016 World Robot Conference in Beijing.
“There are a few challenges about her. Firstly, she has to receive not only language communication but also facial expressions. Like what she showed just now, she can observe your facial expression, and give a natural response, so that you can see her intelligence,” said exhibitor Lu Dongcai.
There was another human-like robot, who impressed visitors with his calligraphy skills, by using a similar style of calligraphy used by legendary philosopher Wang Yangming.
Despite the rapid development in human-like robots, experts say the technology is far from mature.
“Artificial intelligence has to go through three stages. The first stage is being made-by-humans. The second stage is copying humans, and the third one is replacing humans,” said Xia Jiantong, Director of Recon Group.
“Right now, we are in the stage of made-by-human. If we continue at this pace, we still have a long way to go before we reach the ultimate goal of artificial intelligence, which is that humans will be replaced or made by robots.”
The World Robot Conference began last Friday. About 150 exhibitors showcased their latest robot inventions there, and the conference will last through to Tuesday.
Visitors watch a robot writing calligraphy during the 2016 World Robot Conference in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 20, 2016. The 2016 World Robot Conference held an opening ceremony here on Thursday, in which about 150 world-famous robot companies took part. (Xinhua/Li Xin)
