Stanford Robotics Center partners with Stanford HAI for AI research, policy

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From left: HAI Co-Director James Landay and Stanford Robotics Lab Director Oussama Khatib. | Source: Madeleine Wright

The Stanford Robotics Center and the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence last week launched a partnership to identify responsible uses for AI. The initiative will involve interdisciplinary research into how humanity can benefit from the latest technological advances and that those benefits are broadly shared, said the organizations.

The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) and Stanford Robotics Center (SRC) said they want to respond to rapid advances in AI and take the opportunity for AI to accelerate the field of robotics.

Oussama Khatib, director of the SRC, and Fei-Fei Li, John Etchemendy, and James Landay, co-directors of HAI, will co-lead the project. The team aims to address the technical, societal, and economic challenges confronted in fields that use robotics including health and wellness, education, sustainability, and the future of work.

Partners to explain AI, robotics work to policymakers

“We’re thrilled to be collaborating on this exciting venture,” stated Khatib. “We’re just beginning to understand the exciting ways AI will drive robotics to new capabilities, and now is the time to talk about its effective governance.”

The partnership’s stated goals include translating multidisciplinary research into AI-enabled robotics for policymakers, as well as producing original research to equip them with tools to understand and govern the technology.

“We’re watching the robotics field accelerate in ways we’d never dreamed even a few years ago,” Landay said. “I expect to see this technology change almost every industry over the next decade. For this to be done safely, fairly, and successfully, we need to work together now to understand its potential and its dangers.”

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More about the Stanford robotics research

The Stanford Robotics Center said it brings together cross-disciplinary, world-class researchers and industrial affiliates with a shared vision of robotics’ future. Its collaborative facility supports large-scale innovative projects for transformative impact on people and the planet.

The SRC has projects in five core areas of study: field robotics, medical robotics, education/culture, the future of work, and domestic robotics. It said they are working to anticipate and deliver solutions to society’s coming needs as the robotics revolution brings these systems more closely into our working and daily lives.​

Established in 2019, Stanford HAI seeks to understand and influence the creation and impact of AI. Led by faculty from multiple departments across Stanford University, it is researching AI technologies inspired by human intelligence. It is also studying, forecasting, and guiding the human and societal impact of AI, plus designing and creating AI applications to augment human capabilities. 

The institute said it is educating students and leaders at all stages about a range of AI fundamentals and perspectives. In addition, HAI said it fosters regional and national discussions to lead to direct legislative impact.