Robot/Machine Intelligence - 3

1. Robot/Machine Intelligence - 3 Kevin Warwick Reading University, UK & Czech Technical University, Praha, CZ

2. Animal Intelligence • Can get into big problems if we simply compare human and machine intelligence • When a cow goes “Booh” do humans “genuinely understand” what the cow is saying? • By Penrose’ logic – it follows that humans will always be subservient to cows! • Let’s look at animal intelligence and see what we can learn • See what effect it has on our understanding of machine intelligence

3. Hans & Behaviourism • Hans the Berlin horse – numbers + understanding • Oyster reasoning • Watson’ 1912 behaviourism – no consciousness • Is a bee conscious? Where is the line from human to ameoba? • Searle “it is probably not useful to worry about such questions”

4. Telepathy • Tend to measure animals in terms of human values • Lady the horse (1952) – lost objects and missing people • Ultrasonics for a bat • Humans do not understand telepathy – so belittle it! • Brian Josephson

5. Tool Use • Chimps use sticks to forage for food and as a weapon + planned hunting trips • Green Herons fishing – passed on? • Ravens in Vermont • Alex the parrot – count, words/numbers, learning by watching, 50 word vocabulary • Dandy the chimp – deception • Plover hunting

6. Yet More Tools • Sea Otters – Molluscs • Egyptian Vultures – cracking eggs • Song Thrushes – snails shells • Chimps + Orang-utans learn from each other and from humans, e.g. canoeing, siphoning • Octopus – opening cans, learnt by watching + squirt water at objects for ‘fun’ • Parrots throw snowballs

7. Dolphins/Whales • Are Dolphins intelligent? • Friendly - so much interaction - pleasing • Mirror test – self aware? (spot checking) • Problem solving, memory • But brain dissimilar to human – primitive like hedgehogs/bats • Whales – enormous range of songs – humans do not understand

8. Communication Comment • Humans place great emphasis on another animal’s ability to understand our human form of communication • Dogs, cats, chimps, dolphins intelligent if they “understand” and respond to us • Yet how much do humans understand of other species communication?

9. Birds • Pigeons – how do they travel? Can recognise disguised humans and learnt objects, even when hidden. • Parrots – recognise other parrots in their group and attack strangers • Len Howard’s study – birds have distinct movements, habits, personalities, emotions • Birds of the same species/sex/age can vary enormously in how they behave.

10. Maze Teaching • Comparative Test – cats, dogs, horses, chickens, pigs – Bar Harbour Maze • Cats – didn’t wish to take part • Dogs, horses, chickens – taught a reasonable solution • Pigs – figured it out for themselves quickly • Each animal’s intelligence is different – maze is a particular problem

11. Elephants • Bigger brain than humans • Wonderful sense of smell • Communicate by touch, smell, sound, visual • Communicate over long distances • Highly emotional animals • Long term memory

12. Animal Intelligence • Different range of abilities make it difficult for humans to assess what is going on in another creatures mind – should not dismiss this. • Motivation, importance – difficult. • Each creatures intelligence has evolved to be appropriate for that creature • Humans have difficulty valuing when a creature can sense the world differently to humans

13. Insect Intelligence • Animals are very different – but they tend to have the same range of sensors and actuators • So we can have human based tests – looking into a mirror, painting etc • But “What is it like to be a bat?” • If population size is an indication of success, humans do quite well – several billion • But – one swarm of locusts estimated at 12.5 trillion insects.

14. Life Different • How can we compare human life with insect life? • Termite Queen is 14cm long, lays 30,000 eggs every day – that is all they seem to do • Mayflies spend 2 years at the bottom of a pool and then have one hour to fly around • Male moths can smell female over 10Km away • How can we say one is better/worse than another when life is so different?

15. Ant Intelligence • Ants follow a pheromone trail – to/from food • Trail laid and strengthened – trial & error • Division of labour – social? • Communication for warning, attraction, recognition, territory, sexual, etc – that we know! • Value for the good of the colony • Memory – visual landmarks/mazes/sun test • Difficult to assess communication – wiggles/smells

16. Purpose Problem • I am told frequently that humans clearly have something extra because we do things that are not directly necessary – art, abstract thought, sexual pleasure, reading newspapers, sport etc • But if we do not value what another creature is doing or are not aware of it, how can we tell. • In fact many creatures do seem to have fun • But how can we tell about abstract thought? • Example Ice Hockey/Skateboarding!!

17. Spider Intelligence • Over 30,000 different species • Some work together to produce a web • Some use trip wires – prey trips/spider pounces • Some hang on walls and spit immobilising gum • Water spiders live in an air filled diving bell – only leave to get food • Dolomedes Fibriatus • Crab spiders – male ties female down for sex • Spiders are very different to humans • But do produce offspring – could this be the key?

18. Bee Intelligence • Worker bees dance on their return to the hive • Gives exact distance + angle to pollen – understood fully by other bees • Calculate proportions, relate abstract concepts, evaluate Pythagorean type equations – small brain • Environmental features/markers for flying • Memory of routes • Accurate time clock – opening time • Weather predicting – limited travel before storm

19. Bee Senses • Visual – colour but short sighted • Hearing tuned to specific frequencies – humans broad 0 – 15,000 Hz – bees much greater • Can detect water vapour, carbon dioxide etc • Smell also tuned – example dead bees • Workers send out banana like smell when in danger – others then appear and will sting anything that moves!

20. Comparing Intelligences • When a bee discovers a new food source it dances to try to recruit other bees – advertising? • We know very little of the complexity of the lives of other creatures – particularly insects • What a creature is capable of depends on its senses and actuators (Wolf spiders have 8 eyes!) • How do we compare insect/animal intelligence with that of a human? • Bee 10,000 b cells, dog 10 million, human 100 billion – can we use this for comparison?

21. Overall Conclusions • We have considered human intelligence and questioned some of our values • We have looked at animal and insect intelligence • Enormous differences in intelligence depend on sensing and actuators – different creatures do things in different ways – not better/worse • We will look at robot/machine intelligence in the same way • What value is there in getting a machine to copy human intelligence in some way (e.g. communication)?