Facebook trains bots to understand human expressions, using Skype videos
What's the story
Social media giant Facebook is revamping its AI-trained bots to mimic human facial expressions, reports said. Facebook's latest efforts signal their move to develop bots that don't just speak to humans, but also react to human expressions. The bot is controlled by a neural network that was trained using 250 video recordings of Skype conversations, which helped identify various facial expressions.
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AI turning human: Will it improve users' lives?
"Interactive agents are becoming increasingly common in many application domains, such as education, health-care and personal assistance," said researchers.
Artificial intelligence
How were the bots trained?
Researchers at Facebook's AI Lab developed an animated bot with the capability of monitoring 68 points across the human face for changes. Using these points, the bots picked up details like a nod of agreement or a laugh. What's more? The volunteers, who watched the AI-trained bot respond to human interactions, judged it equal to that of a natural, human reaction.
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AI advancements welcome chatbots, humanoid robots
In July, Facebook sparked controversy after its bots supposedly developed their own non-human language, highlighting how little we know about how AI learns. Additionally, researchers across Cambridge and MIT developed systems to understand a human's pain level, while others are working on developing flying humanoid robots.