Robots That Relate

Breazeal, Cynthia. “Designing Social Robots.” Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 2002. <Print>.

Cynthia Breazeal is one of the pioneers in the field of "Sociable Robots". In the late 1990's, she worked at MIT in the Artificial Intelligence Lab and developed "Kismet", one of the first and most famous interactive robots. Breazeal's book not only describes the development of "Kismet", but also reveals Breazeal's hopes for the future of sociable robots. Kismet's lifelike design encouraged people to relate to him as if he were a living creature. Breazeal points out that not only can robots be made to look human-like, they can also be programmed to have human social characteristics. Her vision is that robots be used to enhance social interaction not only by being used in therapy sessions with patients like autistic children, but also by being used to enhance social interactions without ever actually interacting with humans. She had the idea that if robots could be programmed with human social characteristics, they could be observed interacting with each other. She wrote that "computational models of our social abilities could be implemented, tested, and analyzed on robots as they participate with each other in controlled social scenarios...and by studying them, researchers could better understand social behavior disorders and, in turn, develop effective treatments." Her book covers all the systems necessary to build a robot with human characteristics such as personality and empathy.

Cynthia Breazeal's point of view is worth paying attention to because she speaks with authority as one of the pioneers in the development of interactive robots. The fact that she is credited as the creator of "Kismet" qualifies her as an expert in the field of social robots. Her book contains insights not only into what it takes to build such robots, but also into possible uses for them. Regarding the question as to whether robots should be used in therapy because of the controversy over the effect they could have on human emotions and relationships. Breazeal agrees with those who say that robots used in therapy can enhance the ability of patients to relate to other humans.. She adds an interesting point to the discussion by putting forth the idea that, in addition to using robots to work directly with patients, researchers can also use robots to enhance human communication by observing robots interacting directly with each other. By observing robots in this way, researchers can learn about social patterns and disorders and help develop treatments for patients. In her book Breazeal writes that, "Robots should not supplant our need to interact with each other, but rather should support us in our quest to better understand ourselves so that we might appreciate, enhance and celebrate our humanity and our social lives." pxii.