Do Intelligent Robots Need Emotion?

Abstract

What is the place of emotion in intelligent robots? Researchers have advocated the inclusion of some emotion-related components in the information-processing architecture of autonomous agents. It is argued here that emotion needs to be merged with all aspects of the architecture: cognitive–emotional integration should be a key design principle.

Intelligent architectures for robotics: The merging of cognition and emotion

“…In this depiction of a scene from Westworld, Dolores interacts with two humans (one tied to the chair, another immediately to her right), and is watched by two other humanoid robots. Reproduced with permission [104].…”

Affective Visuomotor Interaction: A Functional Model for Socially Competent Robot Grasping

“…Other approaches have focused on the importance of episodic memories for complementing sensorimotor interactions through personal experience (Prescott et al, 2019). It is in any case increasingly accepted that intelligent robot design should include an emotional component in order to achieve proper autonomous behaviours in human environments (Pessoa, 2017). Of particular relevance is the work of Rolls and Grabenhorst (2008), which offers an insight into how neurons in OFC might be able to exhibit certain observed properties.…”

“…Due to the ever-increasing diffusion of robots in our lives, Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) is a quickly developing field. It is nowadays considered essential that robots supposed to interact with human partners are not only dexterous, but also offer the appropriate social skills (Pessoa, 2017). Regarding sensorimotor interactions in natural and artificial systems, we currently have a good understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the visuomotor transformation of object attributes into motor commands, such as identifying graspable portions on the object surface.…”

Emerging Medical Ethical Issues in Healthcare and Medical Robotics

“…Pessoa, therefore, drawing on growing evidence from the cognitive sciences, argues that emotional and cognitive ability must both be programmed into the next generation of social robots: "cognition and emotion need to be intertwined in the general information-processing architecture ….the contention is that, for the types of intelligent behaviors frequently described as cognitive (e.g., attention, problem solving, planning), the integration of emotion and cognition is necessary. The proposal is based on a growing body of knowledge from brain and behavioral sciences" [8].…”