Brent Hoff and Alex Reben's BlabDroids roll up to humans and ask to interview them. They ask questions like, "What's the worst thing you have ever done?" The robots record the answers for their documentary about the species:
The robots, which are very adorable and voiced by a 7-year-old boy, are intended to test the theory of MIT computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum’s “ELIZA effect,” which found that people are inclined to anthropomorphize computers and thus engage emotionally with artificial intelligence. Although this initially lead Weizenbaum to worry about AI’s potential to manipulate, Reben and Hoff have created the BlabDroids to appear comforting and non-judgmental, and to capture meaningful interactions with their subjects.
News Story and Official Website -via Marginal Revolution
(Image: BlabDroid)
I stole a robot that asked me that question and held him for ransom.