In the coming decade, as robots become ubiquitous, there will no doubt come a time when users will want to adjust or even customize their robot's "personality." And the current set of artificial intelligence options can only do so much, a recent patent could provide more options.
Google was recently granted a patent titled "Methods and systems for robot personality development", reports Quartz. The patent relies on a cloud-based system that stores a variety of personalities. Robots will have the ability to download a variety of personalities upon a user's instructions or autonomously, according to who they are engaging.
"The robot personality may also be modifiable within a base personality construct (i.e., a default-persona) to provide states or moods representing transitory conditions of happiness, fear, surprise, perplexion (e.g., the Woody Allen robot), thoughtfulness, derision (e.g., the Rodney Dangerfield robot), and so forth" the patent says.
While customizable personalities enhance engagement, they won't be enough to make a pass as human.
Wired.co.uk also notes that this patent would allow users to save and transfer their preferred personalities between robots. "Unlike Newton and Stephanie from Short Circuit, who were devastated when they believed their beloved Johnny Five had been destroyed, you never need get emotional over or be concerned about the physical destruction of your robot."
All that begs the question, which personalities might people desire the most? Wired.co.uk did a quick survey of their team and found that "among the existing robot personalities [The Wired.co.uk team would] like to have a beer with include Marvin, the Paranid Android; R2D2 ("cute"); Wall-E ("he'd be uplifting"); George the first humanoid robot; Robbie the Robot (for "retro charm"); and Optimus Prime.
