DeepSummary
Katie Kwan is a choreographer who teaches robots how to dance. She believes that teaching robots to move with intention, agility, balance, emotional expression, and grace will help create better caregivers, teachers, and companions that we want to live amongst us. By combining her expertise in robotics and dance in the field of 'choreorobotics,' she explores how movement affects emotions and how this can be applied to intelligent robots.
Kwan worked on Project Starling at Google, where she used AI to teach 15 robots to move together as a flock, navigating and reacting to human gestures while creating music with their movements. This interactive installation demonstrated how robots could move seamlessly and beautifully in complex environments like a crowded city street.
Kwan emphasizes that the choices we make now in choreographing robot movements will dictate how we live with robots in the future. If done right, robots can become more welcomed, safe, and delightful, while still allowing humans to feel marvelously human in an increasingly AI world.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Choreographer Katie Kwan teaches robots how to dance, believing that intentional and expressive movements will make them better companions in our lives.
- Kwan combines her expertise in robotics and dance in the field of 'choreorobotics' to study how movement affects emotions and apply it to intelligent robots.
- Kwan's work on Project Starling at Google demonstrated how AI can teach robots to move seamlessly and beautifully in complex environments, reacting to human gestures.
- Teaching robots to dance with grace, intention, and emotional expression will help create robots that are more welcomed, safe, and delightful in our everyday lives.
- The choices we make now in choreographing robot movements will dictate how we live with robots in the future and whether we feel comfortable with their presence.
- Kwan envisions a future where robots can perform a wide range of functional and creative tasks, expanding their potential roles in our lives while still allowing humans to feel marvelously human.
- By teaching robots to dance, we can unlock the potential of general-purpose robots that can address demographic challenges while being welcomed into our homes and workplaces.
- Kwan's work highlights the importance of considering emotion and context in robot design, not just efficiency and success, to create intelligent machines we want to coexist with.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “If a robot can dance, make every movement with intention, agility, balance, emotional expression, and grace, I believe they will also become better caregivers, teachers, and companions.“ by Katie Kwan
- “The choices we make now are going to dictate how we live our lives with robots.“ by Katie Kwan
- “If we get this right, robots will be more welcomed, safe, and delightful. Humans will be more empowered and comfortable.“ by Katie Kwan
- “I wanted it to feel like stepping out of your normal reality and into a waking dream, one that was so far from where we stand today, yet all the same felt like a world where your kids could grow up and feel calm, where you could be surrounded by machines. And it felt natural and safe.“ by Katie Kwan
- “Imagine a world where robots can do a myriad of things that are functional or creative, and everything in between.“ by Katie Kwan
Entities
Company
Concept
Movie
Product
Person
Book
Tv series
Episode Information
TED Talks Daily
TED
7/1/24
Would you tango with a robot? Inviting us into the fascinating world of dancing machines, robot choreographer Catie Cuan highlights why teaching robots to move with grace, intention and emotion is essential to creating AI-powered machines we will want to welcome into our daily lives.