Teaching with NAO- social AI

NAO robots were used, in my teaching at least, to teach social AI for the first time this week. The session revolved around the using social cues and, to certain extent, using natural language through chatbots for us to communicate with machines.

The robots were used as an example of a social robot, and the way we want to play with or work with them without having to going through a steep learning curve on to use them. Students were encouraged to consider why this was and that anthropomorphisation plays a part (NAO basically has some of the characteristics of a small child). The fact that it responds to voice commands, its looks, has a childlike voice, that it always moving (even slightly including when it is standing) and the way it moves; were spotted by the group as ways it attracts us to it - it is really hard not to talk to it like a child sometimes (perhaps that is just me).

This activity was also included with the use of chatbots (one example used is shown above) and AIML, Artificial Intelligence Markup Language, (a link to more AIML is included below). The chatbots were used to show how we can create intelligent-like behave by in effect providing responses to questions. Followed by, how we then take this further by using the responses people give, while using the chatbot, to 'fine-tune' the model.

To read more about NAO robots go to https://www.aldebaran.com/en

To read more on AIML go to http://www.alicebot.org/aiml.html

Example chatbots

• ALICE http://alice.pandorabots.com/ (the one shown in the picture above).
• Mitsuku http://www.mitsuku.com/
• An example of an MSc student's work on Chatbots  http://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/msc-student-work-chatbot-innovative.html

All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with