(Cool, or Creepy?)... Robot ‘Taught to Laughat Jokes’ to Make It More Human

A robot has been taught to laugh at jokes in a bid to make itmore human.

Researchers inJapan are using artificial intelligence (AI) to train robots about appropriatelaughter – and to differentiate between chuckles andrip-roaring squeals.

They describeworking with a robot called Erica with the hope of making conversations morenatural.Creating a ‘shared laughter’ model, the researchers used AI to helpdetect laughter, decide whether to laugh and also what kind of laughter wouldbe best.

Four short two to three-minute dialogues between real people andErica were used to test the system, which performed well.

However, theexperts said there is more work to do to create truly natural laughtersituations.

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