Robot Spies

Another MOTKE prediction comes true – Stanley Kubrick’s movie “2001, a Space Odyssey,” made over 40 years ago, featured a nefarious, lying computer named “Hal.” Scientists are now creating robots that will be skilled in the art of deception and hope to use them to confuse enemies in battle. Are we moving a step towards Hal-like artificial life by recruiting robots as spies?

“A robot deceives an enemy soldier by creating a false trail and hiding so that it will not be caught.” This is the real scenario of an experiment conducted by researchers as part of what is believed to be the first detailed examination of robot deception. Researcher Ronald Arkin says, “We have developed algorithms that allow a robot to determine whether it should deceive a human or other intelligent machine and we have designed techniques that help the robot select the best deceptive strategy to reduce its chance of being discovered.”

In the future, robots capable of deception may be valuable for several different areas, including military and search and rescue operations. A search and rescue robot may need to deceive in order to calm or receive cooperation from a panicking victim. Robots on the battlefield with the power of deception will be able to successfully hide and mislead the enemy to keep themselves and valuable information safe. Engineer Alan Wager says, “Most social robots will probably rarely use deception, but it’s still an important tool in the robot’s interactive arsenal because robots that recognize the need for deception have advantages in terms of outcome compared to robots that do not recognize the need for deception.” Or as the Master of the Key replied when Whitley asked him if he was an intelligent machine: “If I was an intelligent machine, I would deceive you.”

Art credit: Dreamstime.com

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