Abstract
If we could build an android as a very humanlike robot, how would we, humans, distinguish a real human from the android? The answer to this question is not simple. In human–android interactions, we cannot see the internal mechanism of the android, and thus, we may simply believe that it is a human. This means that humans can be defined in two ways: by their organic mechanism and by their appearance. Further, the current rapid progress in the development of artificial organs makes this distinction confusing. The approach discussed in this paper is to create artificial humans based on humanlike appearances. The developed artificial humans, an android and a geminoid, can be used to understand humans through psychological and cognitive tests. We call this new approach to understanding humans “Android Science.”
This chapter is a modified version of a previously published paper [1], edited to be comprehensive and fit with the context of this book.
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Acknowledgements
The establishment of android science as a new interdisciplinary framework has been supported by many researchers. Prof. Shoji Itakura, Kyoto University, is one of the closest collaborative researchers. He designed several android experiments from the perspective of cognitive science. Prof. Kazuo Hiraki, Tokyo University, is another key collaborator. He gave us many suggestions that originate in brain science and cognitive science. The authors appreciate their helpful support.
Dr. Takahiro Miyashita, ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories, initiated the android project with the authors and developed the skin sensors used for the androids and geminoid. Prof. Takashi Minato, Osaka University, developed software for controlling the androids and coordinated several cognitive experiments. Dr. Takayuki Kanda, ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories, collaborated with the authors in developing methods of evaluating human–robot interactions. Dr. Carlos Toshinori Ishii and Mr. Daisuke Sakamoto developed the geminoid server and helped us conduct studies with the geminoid.
Finally, the author appreciates the collaboration and support of Kokoro Co., Ltd. The adult androids of the Repliee Q series have been developed in a collaborative project with this company.
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Ishiguro, H., Nishio, S. (2018). Building Artificial Humans to Understand Humans. In: Ishiguro, H., Dalla Libera, F. (eds) Geminoid Studies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8702-8_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8702-8_2
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