Tony Prescott (University of Sheffield)

Abstract

Artificial intelligence and robotics have been making great progress in recent years but how close are we to emulating human intelligence?  This talk will explore the similarities and differences between humans and AIs and discuss the development of biomimetic cognitive systems that more directly think and behave like us.  A key focus will be on layered control architectures for robots inspired by the mammalian brain. The talk will be illustrated with work from my lab on active sensing, memory, and sense of self for animal-like and humanoid robots.

This talk is part of Aravind Battaje‘s course “Mind, Body, Environment: An Interactive Seminar on Embodied Intelligence,” a seminar introducing to key theories and research highlighting this shift in perspective through invited lectures from experts in the field and interactive sessions.

Bio

Tony Prescott (him/his) is a Professor of Robotics at the University of Sheffield who develops robots that resemble animals including humans. His goal is both to advance the understanding of natural intelligence and to create useful new technologies such as assistive, educational and entertainment robots. Tony has published over 250 refereed articles and journal papers at the intersection of robotics and psychology (Google h-factor 52) and has received over £10M in funding from UK and European research agencies.  He is the author of the book The Psychology of Artificial Intelligence (Routledge, 2024) and lead editor of Living Machines: A Handbook of Research in Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems (OUP, 2018). With collaborators he has developed the MiRo-e robot and the MiRoCloud robotics e-learning platform. His research has been covered by the major news and scientific media including the BBC, CNN, Discovery Channel, The Guardian and New Scientist.  Tony regularly writes and speaks on societal and ethical issues in robotics and artificial intelligence. For more information see his blog page or follow @tonyjprescott on BlueSky.

For those who are not in Berlin but would like to join virtually:
https://tu-berlin.zoom-x.de/j/69207754612?pwd=IKxoTdY3dQWccHpce2nA0IsNkNxPHu.1

Photo kindly provided by the speaker