Dr. Nagai

ABSTRACT: What neural mechanisms underlie cognitive development? Can we build human-like intelligence in robots? My research group has been investigating human cognitive development through a computational approach. We propose that a neuroscience theory called predictive processing provides a unified account for cognitive development. My talk first demonstrates how artificial neural networks, based on predictive processing, enable robots to acquire various cognitive functions. Social behaviors, such as reading intentions/emotions and displaying altruistic behavior, emerge through the minimization of prediction errors. Our experiments further illustrate the influences of altered predictive processing on cognitive development. Aberrant precision in prediction and sensation gives rise to neurodiverse behaviors, as observed in developmental disorders. I will also discuss the potential and new challenges in building predictive brains in robots.

Biography:

Yukie Nagai is a Project Professor at the International Research Center for Neurointelligence, the University of Tokyo. She received her Ph.D. in Engineering from Osaka University in 2004 and then worked at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Bielefeld University, and Osaka University. Since 2019, she leads Cognitive Developmental Robotics Lab at the University of Tokyo. Her research interests include cognitive developmental robotics, computational neuroscience, and assistive technologies for developmental disorders. Her research achievements have been widely reported in the media as novel techniques to understand and support human intelligence. She also serves as the research director of JST CREST Cognitive Mirroring since 2016.

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