Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Thursday 19 July 2018

Why is Facebook keen on robots? It’s just the future of AI

By RYAN NAKASHIMA wide range of robotics re-
AP Technology Writer search, everything from
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — building a “compelling hu-
Facebook announced sev- manoid robot” to creating
eral new hires of top aca- a mechanical servant to
demics in the field of artifi- “load and unload my dish-
cial intelligence Tuesday, washer.”
among them a roboticist While she acknowledged
known for her work at Dis- the need to imbue robots
ney making animated fig- with more common sense
ures move in more human- and have them learn with
like ways. fewer examples, she also
The hires raise a big ques- said her work in animation
tion — why is Facebook in- could lead to a new form
terested in robots, anyway? of sharing — one in which
It’s not as though the social AI-powered tools could
media giant is suddenly in- help one show off a work of
terested in developing me- pottery in 3-D, for example.
chanical friends, although “One thing I hope we’ll be
it does use robotic arms in able to do is explore AI sup-
some of its data centers. port for creativity,” she said.
The answer is even more For Facebook, planting a
central to the problem of flag in the hot field also al-
how AI systems work today. This photo provided by Facebook shows Yann LeCun. Associated Press lows it to be competitive
Today, most successful AI “Clearly we’re missing of the robot-training com- stract applications of learn- for AI talent emerging from
systems have to be ex- something in terms of how pany Covariant.ai, says the ings from robotics, says universities, Facebook’s Le-
posed to millions of data humans can learn so fast,” robotics field has benefits Berkeley AI professor Ken Cun said.
points labeled by humans Yann LeCun, Facebook’s and constraints that push Goldberg. Just like teach- Bart Selman, a Cornell
— like, say, photos of cats chief AI scientist, said in a progress in AI. For one, the ing a robot to escape from computer science profes-
— before they can learn call with reporters last week. real world is naturally com- a computerized maze, sor AI expert, said it’s a
to recognize patterns that “So far the best ideas have plex, so robotic AI systems other robots change their good idea for Facebook to
people take for granted. come out of robotics.” have to deal with unex- behavior depending on broaden its reach in AI and
Similarly, game-playing Among the people Face- pected, rare events. whether actions they took take on projects that might
bots like Google’s comput- book is hiring are Jessica And real-world constraints got them closer to a goal. not be directly related to
erized Go master AlphaGo Hodgins , the former Disney like a lack of time and the Such systems could even the company’s business
Zero require tens of thou- researcher; and Abhinav cost of keeping machinery be adapted to serve ads, — something that’s a little
sands of trials to learn the Gupta, her colleague at moving push researchers to he said — which just hap- more “exciting” — the way
best moves from their fail- Carnegie Mellon University solve difficult problems. pens to be the mainstay of Google did with self-driving
ures. who is known for using ro- “Robotics forces you into Facebook’s business. cars, for example.
Creating systems that re- bot arms to learn how to many reality checks,” Ab- “It’s not a static decision, This attracts not just at-
quire less data and have grasp things. beel said. it’s a dynamic one,” Gold- tention, but students, too.
more common sense is Pieter Abbeel, a roboticist “How good are these algo- berg said. The broader the research
a key goal for making AI at University of California, rithms, really?” In an interview, Hodgins agenda, the better the
smarter in the future. Berkeley and co-founder There are other more ab- expressed an interest in a labs become, he said.q

Source: Uber facing probe into

alleged gender discrimination

August 2017, according to opened its probe. Since his to sell its stock on the pub-
a person familiar with the arrival, Khosrowshahi has lic markets for the first time
investigation. The person been focused on cleaning next year.
insisted on not being iden- up Uber’s corporate cul- If the EEOC finds Uber broke
tified because the inquiry is ture poisoned by a pattern the law by paying women
considered confidential. of sexual harassment and differently than men for the
The EEOC declined to com- other abuses that included performing the same jobs,
ment Monday. Uber said it a yearlong cover-up of a the agency could slap fines
has already revamped its major computer break-in on the company as punish-
compensation practices and the use of duplicitous ment.
This March 20, 2018, file photo shows the Uber app on an iPad and introduced other mea- software to thwart govern- San Francisco-based Uber
in Baltimore. sures designed to ensure its ment regulators. already has paid $245 mil-
Associated Press male and female employ- The incidents have cast a lion in stock to self-driving
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE hailing service set up a pay ees are treated fairly. cloud over Uber while it has car pioneer Waymo to
AP Technology Writer structure that discriminated Some of the changes have been battling fiercer com- settle allegations that it
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — against its female workers. been rolled out since Uber petition from its biggest stole technology from the
Uber is facing a U.S. gov- The U.S. the Equal Employ- hired Dara Khosrowshahi U.S. rival, Lyft, and trying Google spin-off to help
ernment investigation into ment Opportunity Commis- as its CEO in September to reverse its long history of build a fleet of self-driving
allegations that the ride- sion opened the probe in 2017, shortly after the EEOC huge losses as it prepares cars.q