2/24/2016

WikipediaforRobots

A View from Ashutosh Saxena

Wikipedia for Robots

People have learned to pool their knowledge. We need to help machines do the same.

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February 23, 2016

Robot Breakthroughs
umans have gained a lot of value by organizing all their

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Wikipedia for Robots

knowledgeandmakingitwidelyaccessibleintextbooks,
libraries,Wikipedia,andYouTube,tonameafew

Wikipedia for Robots

01
examples.Thesepoolsofknowledgearentvaluablejustforgrand

scienticventuresbutalsoforthetrivialstuofeverydayhuman
lives:youcaneasilyndthousandsofYouTubevideosthatwillteach

youhowtocookanomelet.

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Wenowliveinaworldwhere
robotsarehelpinghumansin
theirdailylives,andjustlike
humans,robotsneedtolearn
newskillsinordertodotheir

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WikipediaforRobots
jobssuccessfully.Andwe
shouldntexpectarobottolearn
onitsownfromscratch,any
morethanwedexpectahuman
todosoimagineachild
growingupwithnoaccessto
textbooks,libraries,orthe
Internet.

However,theorganized
collectionsofknowledgethat
workforhumansarentsogreat
forrobots.Arobotwouldntget
muchusefulinformationifit
queriedasearchengineforhow
tobringsweetteafromthe
kitchen.Robotsrequire
somethingdierentaccessto
1 of 5 free articles

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nerdetailsforplanning,control,
andnaturallanguage
understanding.Whenaskedto
bringsweettea,therobotwould
needaccesstotheknowledgeforinterpretingthelanguagesymbols
(tea)intermsofphysicalentities(aparticularcontainerhavingsweet
tea),thespatialknowledgethatsweetteacanbeeitheronatableorin
afridge,andtheknowledgeforinferringhowtograspandmanipulate
objects.Itspossibletomanuallyscriptademoforoneparticular
situation,buthandlingthisacrossdierenttasksandindierent
environmentsisstillanopenproblem.

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WikipediaforRobots

In2014,Istartedaprojectcalled
RoboBrainatCornellUniversity
alongwithPhDstudentsAsheshJain
andOzanSener.Wenowhave
collaboratorsatStanfordandBrown.
Whatwereworkingonisawayof
sharinginformationthatallows
robotstogatherwhateverknowledge
theyneedforatask(seeRobotsThat
TeachEachOther).Ifonerobot
learns,thentheknowledgeis
propagatedtoalltherobots.

Ashutosh Saxena

RoboBrainachievesthisbygathering
theknowledgefromavarietyofsources.Thesystemstoresmultiple
kindsofinformation,includingsymbols,naturallanguage,visualor
shapefeatures,hapticproperties,andmotions.

Thisapproachrepresentsahugeshiftinthinking.Historically,research
groupsworkingwithrobotshavetrainedtheirrobotsinisolation.Yes,
weoftenshareideasthroughpublicationsandsoftwarethatcanbeused
byanotherresearchgroup,butwhatonerobotmightlearnhasntbeen
accessibletoanotherresearchersrobot.Toaddtotheproblem,research
groupshavebeenworkingondierentproblemsonemighthave
focusedonthecomputervisionproblemofidentifyingacup,while
anotherworkedonthelanguageproblemofwhatisacup,whilea
thirdtackledhowtograspacup.

Thatsthekindofapproachweneedtogetpast.Acupisoneobject,not
three.Andarobot,justlikeaperson,needstobeabletohaveallthe
knowledgeitneedsinoneplace.

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AshutoshSaxenaisthedirectoroftheRoboBrainprojectandthefounder
andCEOofthestartupBrainofThings.

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Credit

Illustration by Andy Friedman

Ashutosh Saxena

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WikipediaforRobots

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