[Women’s Forum 10th Anniversary] "Robots Can't Learn Unless They Break" Dennis Hong's Philosophy of Failure

'2021 Asia Women Leaders Forum' Lecture by Professor Dennis Hong of UCLA
"Positivity Always Found a Way" Emphasizing Life Attitude
Quadruped Robot Body Damaged Before Unveiling
"Adding Wheels Created an Unimaginable Way to Move"
Supplying Firefighting Robots to Military Raised 'Ethical Issues'
"Someone Has to Do It... I Believe It Can Go in the Right Direction"

Professor Dennis Hong of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is giving a lecture at the '2021 Asia Women Leaders Forum' hosted by Asia Economy, held on the 27th at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

"Robots cannot learn unless they break down. Both obstacles and stepping stones are just stones."

This is the attitude of Dennis Hong, a roboticist, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and director of the RoMela Robotics Mechanisms Laboratory, towards crises and failures.

On the 27th, at the '2021 Asia Women Leaders Forum' held at the Crystal Ballroom of Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul, Professor Hong gave a virtual lecture titled "Finding the Direction of Leadership in the AI Era through Positivity and Empathy." He has researched bipedal robots like 'Nabi,' quadrupedal robots like 'Alfred,' disaster rescue robots like 'Thor,' and autonomous vehicles.

The turning point for the evolution of the robots he developed was ironically a 'crisis.' Two days before unveiling the robot 'Alfred 2' at Sungkyunkwan University last May, the metal body was completely split in two. Alfred is a quadrupedal robot designed to complement the unstable walking function of bipedal robots, capable of running fast, jumping, and lifting boxes.

Professor Hong devised a way to raise the collapsed robot. Inspired by the scene in the movie 'The Ring' where the ghost emerges from the well, he attached wheels used for carts to Alfred. He coded this in the early hours of the presentation day.

Professor Hong explained, "By attaching wheels under the robot's body, the robot could push against the floor to move. Positivity always found a way. The goal was to make Alfred move in various ways, and an unexpected method of movement was born."

He emphasized, "'Positivity always found a way.' It is important to have a life attitude that finds and utilizes positive aspects even in difficult and challenging situations."

Professor Dennis Hong of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is giving a lecture at the '2021 Asia Women Leaders Forum' hosted by Asia Economy, held on the 27th at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

During the lecture, student Kim Yeon-jeong from Seoul Institute of the Arts asked, "What do you think about the negative aspect of robots taking away human jobs?" Professor Hong responded, "The jobs robots will bring will start with dangerous, 3D-type tasks that, from the perspective of 30 years in the future, will be considered 'inhumane.' Just as jobs like gas station attendants, insurance agents, and mechanics disappeared with the development of automobiles, more new jobs will be created as robots advance."

However, he expressed a different opinion regarding the military use of robots. Professor Hong shared an anecdote about spending over two weeks contemplating while developing and delivering the fire-fighting robot 'Sapphire' to the U.S. Navy. Sapphire is a robot equipped with functions to hold fire extinguishers and throw portable extinguishers on warships. The possibility of the military using it for other purposes could not be ignored.

Professor Hong said, "I did not want robots to harm either allies or enemies. Even if I did not do it, someone had to. I believed that if it were me, it could go in a better direction." He added, "A hammer is a tool for driving nails, but it is not the fault of the person who made the hammer if it injures someone. The issue is not the technology of robots but the people who use them, that is, an ethical issue."

When an attendee asked, "What is the most important environmental factor to make team members immersed?" Professor Hong cited 'fun and a sense of mission.'

He said, "Among the robots we developed are cars for the visually impaired and fire-fighting robots that save lives. We have a belief that these robots benefit society. That belief is the driving force that makes us get up again no matter how hard it gets."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.