人妻少妇专区

Alumni Gazette

David Lu 鈥�07 (T5) has not yet seen Westworld, HBO鈥檚 hit television series in which android hosts populate a Wild West鈥搕hemed park and cater to the whims of human guests. Lu鈥檚 omission is notable, given his billing as chief robot programmer in the spring 2015 theatrical premiere of Sky Sky Sky by Liza Birkenmeier.

The play, like Westworld, raised questions about artificial intelligence, human-robot relationships, agency, and autonomy. But unlike the TV show鈥攚hich features human actors playing robots who think they are humans鈥攐ne of the play鈥檚 main actors was, in fact, a robot.

Dubbed Harris T. Robot, it was a PR2 model, a common robotics research platform that runs on the open source robot operating system (ROS) and is used by countless industries, universities, and companies. About five feet tall, weighing 400 pounds, and with two arms, PR2 is not exactly Anthony Hopkins. Still, Lu believes that the performing arts, especially theater, offer a way to explore the potential to enhance human-robot interactions using current robotics technology.

鈥淲ith theater, we can construct controlled scenarios and put the robots in, allowing them to participate in much the same way human actors do,鈥� he says. The job of professional actors, after all, is to convince others that they are something they鈥檙e not. Using acting techniques, might robots convince people that they are social, or even conscious?

鈥淚f I鈥檓 in a production of Hamlet, I can鈥檛 actually change myself into Hamlet. But I can do everything in my power to make my actions look consistent with those of the Prince of Denmark,鈥� says Lu. Maybe it鈥檚 the same thing with robots. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 get robots to be real, human-like, emotional creatures, but within the scope of theater we can have them perform actions that make it seem to the audience as if they are.鈥�

Sky, Sky, Sky was the result of a six-year collaboration between computer scientists and performing artists (including the play鈥檚 director, Annamaria Pileggi) as part of Lu鈥檚 PhD work on contextualized robot navigation at Washington University in St. Louis. Set in 2061, it centers on a character named Joan, an older woman who suffers a heart attack and needs the assistance of a robot as her medical caregiver.

Lu believes there is also something special about using real robots in live theater, as opposed to digital droids or actors playing robots on screen. 鈥淭he fact that it鈥檚 a chunk of plastic with whirring fans and flickering sensors鈥攖hat part gets a visceral response from the audience.鈥�

Understanding that response is a key part of Lu鈥檚 current work as a roboticist at Bossa Nova Robotics, a Pittsburgh-based start-up that specializes in building robots that work around people. Lu programs robots that scan the shelves of large grocery and retail stores to track what鈥檚 out of stock.

鈥淟ike the theater work, it鈥檚 all about how people perceive the robot,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his robot is in a store with people who had no idea they were going to see a robot that day. Every move that robot makes is going to have broad implications for what people think of robots from then on.鈥�

Most robots, for example, are programmed to get from point A to point B in the most efficient manner, even if there鈥檚 a person in the way. Whereas humans understand the concept of personal space, most robots are not concerned with such decorum. Lu鈥檚 work entails programming robots with contextual information to improve human-robot interactions. 鈥淭he idea of being able to help shape people鈥檚 impressions of robots is really what drives me,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 want people to not be afraid of robots. They鈥檙e completely harmless.鈥�

Could Harris T. Robot be a gateway to Wall-E, Skynet, or other fictionalized versions of self-aware artificial intelligence?

Lu demurs. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no greater intelligence in these robots. I might personify my robots, but I鈥檓 under no false pretenses about their abilities.鈥�

Instead, when it comes to robots like PR2, Lu likens himself to a stage parent: 鈥淚鈥檓 not the one on stage, but I am making sure that [the robot] does well鈥攁nd when it screws up, that reflects on me. But if it succeeds, then I can sit back proudly.鈥�