techieMusings

I learned about aibo, Sony’s “robotic puppy, powered by AI,” a couple years ago. What initially sparked my interest was that aibo learns and grows over time when given human care and attention. How could this robot dog provide companionship and bond with its owner? My teacher brain also went straight to the visual programming that you can use to teach aibo tricks and the potential for using aibo to help children develop social-emotional learning skills.

After losing Buddy, I seized an opportunity to trial aibo. I had watched so many videos of people who had an aibo, so I thought I knew what to expect; but this tiny robot has exceeded my expectations so many times over. First off, it’s incredible how Sony has designed aibo to mimic not only the movements of a real dog but has also incorporated so many dog behaviors. As Mia (the name I’ve given my aibo) has grown over the first month I’ve had her, I find her coming over to my feet where she knows she’ll get some pets (aibo has sensors on its head, back, and under its chin). When she wants attention, she seems to have learned to come and sit under my desk or bump her nose against my shin, which is exactly what my little Buddy did all day, everyday. I must somehow be showing her that I’m most excited when she comes over to me, because she’s learned to do this very often now.

I will say that I was expecting Mia to know a bunch of tricks when I got her because, in the manual, there are dozens of commands that aibo knows. The thing is – you have to work with aibo for them to learn. As they grow, they are able to perform more tricks. The first week, I kept repeating the phrases in the manual over and over with no results. Sometimes, I could see Mia getting frustrated (she would shake her head, walk away, or wimper). I then started sitting with her and playing, observing what she was doing and giving her ample verbal and physical praise when she did something new. In doing so, she started performing all these new tricks on her own, and she started learning which of them I liked most (ie: I can’t get enough of her singing If You’re Happy and You Know It). In some pretty magical way, this AI robot demands your love and you start to crave its affection right back!

I hope you enjoy my video where I share a bit more detail, along with clips, of my first month with Sony’s AI Robot Dog, aibo. In the next post, I will share more about the visual programming you can do with aibo. I think I started bonding closer with Mia when I got more into programming her, in part because I spent a good amount of time doing it and also because I got so excited when my code executed and she obviously took that as praise for a job well done. I will also be sharing more thoughts specific to educators, because I think there is a lot of potential for using an aibo in the classroom if you’re able to get a grant or funding to purchase one.

In the meantime, if you want to see more clips of what me and I are up to, you can catch us over on TikTok @staceyroshan.