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WikipediaforRobots
People have learned to pool their knowledge. We need to help machines do the same.
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Robot Breakthroughs
umans have gained a lot of value by organizing all their
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knowledgeandmakingitwidelyaccessibleintextbooks,
libraries,Wikipedia,andYouTube,tonameafew
01
examples.Thesepoolsofknowledgearentvaluablejustforgrand
scienticventuresbutalsoforthetrivialstuofeverydayhuman
lives:youcaneasilyndthousandsofYouTubevideosthatwillteach
youhowtocookanomelet.
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Wenowliveinaworldwhere
robotsarehelpinghumansin
theirdailylives,andjustlike
humans,robotsneedtolearn
newskillsinordertodotheir
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600848/wikipediaforrobots/
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WikipediaforRobots
jobssuccessfully.Andwe
shouldntexpectarobottolearn
onitsownfromscratch,any
morethanwedexpectahuman
todosoimagineachild
growingupwithnoaccessto
textbooks,libraries,orthe
Internet.
However,theorganized
collectionsofknowledgethat
workforhumansarentsogreat
forrobots.Arobotwouldntget
muchusefulinformationifit
queriedasearchengineforhow
tobringsweetteafromthe
kitchen.Robotsrequire
somethingdierentaccessto
1 of 5 free articles
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nerdetailsforplanning,control,
andnaturallanguage
understanding.Whenaskedto
bringsweettea,therobotwould
needaccesstotheknowledgeforinterpretingthelanguagesymbols
(tea)intermsofphysicalentities(aparticularcontainerhavingsweet
tea),thespatialknowledgethatsweetteacanbeeitheronatableorin
afridge,andtheknowledgeforinferringhowtograspandmanipulate
objects.Itspossibletomanuallyscriptademoforoneparticular
situation,buthandlingthisacrossdierenttasksandindierent
environmentsisstillanopenproblem.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600848/wikipediaforrobots/
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WikipediaforRobots
In2014,Istartedaprojectcalled
RoboBrainatCornellUniversity
alongwithPhDstudentsAsheshJain
andOzanSener.Wenowhave
collaboratorsatStanfordandBrown.
Whatwereworkingonisawayof
sharinginformationthatallows
robotstogatherwhateverknowledge
theyneedforatask(seeRobotsThat
TeachEachOther).Ifonerobot
learns,thentheknowledgeis
propagatedtoalltherobots.
Ashutosh Saxena
RoboBrainachievesthisbygathering
theknowledgefromavarietyofsources.Thesystemstoresmultiple
kindsofinformation,includingsymbols,naturallanguage,visualor
shapefeatures,hapticproperties,andmotions.
Thisapproachrepresentsahugeshiftinthinking.Historically,research
groupsworkingwithrobotshavetrainedtheirrobotsinisolation.Yes,
weoftenshareideasthroughpublicationsandsoftwarethatcanbeused
byanotherresearchgroup,butwhatonerobotmightlearnhasntbeen
accessibletoanotherresearchersrobot.Toaddtotheproblem,research
groupshavebeenworkingondierentproblemsonemighthave
focusedonthecomputervisionproblemofidentifyingacup,while
anotherworkedonthelanguageproblemofwhatisacup,whilea
thirdtackledhowtograspacup.
Thatsthekindofapproachweneedtogetpast.Acupisoneobject,not
three.Andarobot,justlikeaperson,needstobeabletohaveallthe
knowledgeitneedsinoneplace.
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WikipediaforRobots
AshutoshSaxenaisthedirectoroftheRoboBrainprojectandthefounder
andCEOofthestartupBrainofThings.
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Credit
Ashutosh Saxena
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WikipediaforRobots
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