New robots learning by themselves

I recently found a couple news stories that would be PERFECT to kick this blog off.

The first one talks about 'conscious' robots being a reality by the year 2020.
One quote from the article is:

"[should] androids that have become as intelligent as humans be denied equal
rights."

At first it might sound "obvious" to most people that they are only machines and OF COURSE would no have equal rights!? But, as this article points out.... What happens when our robots look, sound and act just like all your other friends and neighbors? Without a medical examination you could not tell the difference? The robots display a sense of BEING and SELF. Trust me, even if YOU cannot be swayed I can guarantee the public masses will be when a new android is begging for their life to be spared, and no one can tell the difference between "him" and the last guy on death row.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2230715,00.html


Here is another article about how machines are already starting to learn on their own, and teach each other new things. Perhaps they will start to develop their own society, language, behaviors, and all that go along with community.
It's a VERY interesting time, indeed!

When robots learn social skills from PhysOrg.com
Learning to communicate and adapting our behaviour to the information we receive has been fundamental to human evolution. If machines could do the same the intelligent talking robots of science fiction could become the stuff of science reality, as researchers aim to prove.

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