Talking Robots: Owen Holland - Robot Consciousness

In this episode of Talking Robots, Markus Weibel interviews Professor Owen Holland from the University of Essex. Holland discusses his diverse career, including his work on reconstructing Gray Walter's early autonomous Tortoise robots and his current research into machine consciousness. He explains the motivations behind Gray Walter's work, the capabilities of the Tortoise robots, and the advancements in autonomous robotics since then. Holland also outlines the different positions in artificial consciousness and details his approach to building a humanoid robot to investigate consciousness, including the robot's design and planned functionalities. Finally, he shares his predictions for the future of humanoid robotics, emphasizing the importance of conceptual breakthroughs and the potential for robots in elder care.