There is a new autonomous robot that can do whatever task is assigned to it, and it helps users with different needs and requirements that no longer needs intricate training before it can start working. Meet ALAN, and was made by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which centers on a self-learning bot for every need.
Humans need only to experience one thing, despite not having any knowledge about it, to become aware or have basic abilities to do one task, and it is what this new robot features.
ALAN: Autonomous Robot that Learns While it Works
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University introduced its latest "robotic agent" which can freely do tasks and learn as it explores its environment, calling this robot, ALAN. The team said that ALAN does not need any significant training before it can operate, as it would continuously learn about its environment with the data collected, to accomplish tasks and the like.
According to its researchers, "This is enabled by measuring environment change, which reflects object movement and ignores changes in the robot position."
"We use this metric directly as an environment-centric signal, and also maximize the uncertainty of predicted environment change, which provides agent-centric exploration signal," they added.
The team pre-published their study over at arXiv, awaiting peer review before it sees a journal publication.
Self-Learning the Environment to Perform Tasks
The main feature of the robot is its self-learning features that do not need immense training before it can deploy in the real-world setting, with ALAN learning about its environment to achieve its goals.
Its exploration centers on learning more about how to interact with objects, centering on a "zero-shot" manner towards "goal reaching."
Robots Aim to Help Humans with their Jobs
There are many reasons as to why companies tend to hire more robots instead of humans in doing certain tasks, and among those is the reluctance of people to do a certain job, unlike these mechanical creations. North America increased its hiring of robots over humans in 2022, and it is because of the labor shortage in the industry.
Most robots now are equipped with self-learning technology through artificial intelligence that centers on doing different tasks and requirements on their own, with minimal human supervision. This, in turn, helps with maintaining different standards, take for example this Danish firm that aims to integrate AI into its robotic blade maintenance technology.
At first, it would seem like robots are trying to take over people's jobs-rather, employers or companies choosing to hire more bots over humans. But that is not the case, as these innovations aim to help people with their everyday needs, with robots like ALAN trying to learn more of what is out there, with significant awareness of their environment.
