Almost Human: Making Robots Think

The high bay at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon\nUniversity is alive and hyper night and day with the likes of\nHyperion, which traversed the Antarctic, and Zoe, the world’s first\nrobot scientist, now back home. Robot Segways learn to play soccer,\nwhile other robots go on treasure hunts or are destined for\nhospitals and museums. Dozens of cavorting mechanical creatures,\nalong with tangles of wire, tools, and computer innards are\nscattered haphazardly. All of these zipping and zooming gizmos are\ncontrolled by disheveled young men sitting on the floor, folding\nchairs, or tool cases, or huddled over laptops squinting into\ndisplays with manic intensity. Award-winning author Lee Gutkind\nimmersed himself in this frenzied subculture, following these young\nroboticists and their bold conceptual machines from Pittsburgh to\nNASA and to the most barren and arid desert on earth. He makes\nintelligible their discoveries and stumbling points in this lively\nbehind-the-scenes work.

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