Human-like robots trick people into thinking they have a mind of their own
Study co-author Agnieszka Wykowska poses with the “self-aware” iCub robot. (Image credit: Italian Institute of Technology) (opens in a new tab) A human-like robot that has been programmed to interact socially with human companions is tricking people into thinking that mindless machines are self-aware, according to a new study. The digital cheater, which the researchers dubbed the “iCub,” is a child-sized humanoid robot created by the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa to study social interactions between humans and robots. This state-of-the-art Android, which is 3.6 feet (1.1 meters) tall, has a human-like face, camera eyes that can maintain eye contact with people, and 53 degrees of freedom that allow it to complete complex tasks and mimic human behavior. Researchers can program iCubs to act very much like humans, as demonstrated in his 2016 appearance on Italy Has Talent (opens in a new tab) when the robot performs Tai Chi moves and wows the judges with its wit