Why Autonomous Robotics and Artificial Intelligence?-One Researcher's Perspective-
Lynne E. Parker · Journal of the Robotics Society of Japan · 2006
Scientists and technologists have many reasons for choosing the field they work in. For me, fascination with how the human mind works to solve problems, combined with the satisfaction of creating working systems that solve problems, led me to my interest in artificial intelligence and autonomous robotics. I have always been intrigued with the question of how we, as humans, survive in what seems to be a very complex environment and society. If you consider the world we live in, and our ability to cope (and even thrive) in our complex world, many questions come to mind. For example, how do we make sense of the flood of information we process on a moment-by-moment basis? How do we decide what is important, what is not important, and what actions to take to achieve our objectives? How do we work together to help each other or to understand each other’s needs and capabilities without requiring the exchange of detailed personal information on our philosophies, reasoning approaches, perspectives on the world, plans, goals, and dreams? How do we learn from experience, so that we can be more efficient at what we do, and can avoid making the same mistakes twice? Developing answers to these big questions requires many generations of study in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology, sociology, and behavioral science.