Physical Intelligence

Podcast: Daniela Rus on the marriage of robotics and AI.

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One of the basic “concepts” of ‘Night Owls’ is what we call “the impossibly impressive resume.” It’s a simple concept: interview people with impossibly impressive resumes. So….

Daniela Rus is the Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT. Rus’s research interests are in robotics, mobile computing, and data science. Rus is a Class of 2002 MacArthur Fellow, a fellow of ACM, AAAI and IEEE, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy for Arts and Science. She earned her PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University. (csail.mit.edu)

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This from a TED Talk she delivered a year ago:

Today, I lead MIT's Computer Science and AI lab, the largest research unit at MIT. This is our building, where I work with brilliant and brave researchers to invent the future of computing and intelligent machines. Today in computing, artificial intelligence and robotics are largely separate fields. AI has amazed you with its decision-making and learning, but it remains confined inside computers. Robots have a physical presence and can execute pre-programmed tasks, but they're not intelligent.

Well, this separation is starting to change. AI is about to break free from the 2D computer screen interactions and enter a vibrant, physical 3D world. In my lab, we're fusing the digital intelligence of AI with the mechanical prowess of robots. Moving AI from the digital world into the physical world is making machines intelligent and leading to the next great breakthrough, what I call physical intelligence. (Source: ted.com)

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We talked to her about the merger of robotics and AI, and her work at CSAIL more generally. It’s a fascinating hour. She’s impossibly impressive.

(Interview with Daniela Rus, May 5, 2025)