Artiicial Intelligence: Can machines think? 185- “In the 1970s in Japan, Professor Hirokazu Kato built Wabot-1, a robot that walked on two
legs, grasped simple objects with both hands, and was capable of basic speech interaction.
A later and more lifelike version, Wabot-2, was equipped with a TV camera for a head and
could sight-read and play music while it sat on a piano bench. In 1997, Honda introduced
the remote-controlled P2, followed by the P3 in 1998, which resembled a human being
in a space suit, carried a battery backpack, and walked and climbed stairs. In 2001, Honda
introduced Asimo, a child-sized humanoid that could walk, reach, grasp, talk to people,
and understand simple commands. Built for amusement parks, Asimo remained a remote-
controlled puppet rather than a truly autonomous creature.” - “Walking comes naturally to human beings, but coordinated, elegant movement is not
nearly as simple for a robot, whose vision system and brain cannot collect and process
information in the same complex way that humans can. Balance is another problem, one
that humans master because of their delicately constructed inner ear. Vision systems
equipped with a video camera can distinguish colors, but cannot tell the diference between
a baseball and an orange. To demonstrate real intelligence, a robot’s computer brain would
have to contain gargantuan databases and operate like the human nervous system.”
Organizing information
Scan the reading text for details that support the main ideas in the following chart, then enter
the information in the chart. Don’t copy directly from the text; use your own words as much
as possible.
Main ideas Important details
The development of robots and
Artiicial Intelligence
The use of robots in manufacturingThe use of robots in dangerous
situations