How close are we to having robot companions?

Will advances in artificial intelligence bring us closer to having robots in our homes? A Michigan Engineering expert weighs in on the goals and outlook for research in making robots that think like humans.

The idea of artificial intelligence is rooted in creating a mind that has the same flexibilities and capabilities of a human mind — or even more. Although research has been advanced in a variety of areas of human intelligence, such as voice and face recognition, the next question will be how to integrate the separate aspects into a fully capable brain, says U-M professor Satinder Baveja.