Look Who it Was Random video

Making Information Personal: Companions - Yorick Wilks

1,405 views · Published 16 November 2018 · 42:15 · Indexed 14 October 2026

Channel: Gresham College · 2018 · Education

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00:00 // Introduction: From Blue Sky to Old Hat — AI Companions Through the Ages
02:10 // ELIZA, Perry & the Roots of Emotional AI in the 1970s
06:45 // Alexa & Siri: Have We Really Advanced in 50 Years?
10:30 // What Is an AI Companion? (And What It's NOT)
15:20 // Why Lonely Elderly People Are the Original Use Case
20:15 // What Should a Companion Look Like? The Uncanny Valley Problem
26:00 // What Must a Companion Know? Common Sense vs. Data
31:40 // Emotion in AI: From Ignored Backwater to Commercial Gold Rush
37:00 // The Victorian Lady's Companion as a Blueprint for AI
43:10 // Alexa's Dark Side: Privacy, Discretion & Who the Companion Really Serves
49:30 // Future Companions: Health, Cars, Space & Beyond

Professor Wilks will discuss the notion of an artificial Companion, a long-term software agent that could be present in any device: a screen, handbag or even a furry toy - and which understands the person it 'lives' with and whose memories and knowledge it comes to acquire and manage through conversation. One can think of a core function of Companion as living with an elderly person, lonely and wanting to revisit their memories and memorabilia, but needing assistance with information and agency.

This lecture was recorded by Professor Yorick Wilks on the 6th November 2018

Yorick Wilks was Visiting Professor of Artificial Intelligence at Gresham College. He was also Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Sheffield, a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, and a Senior Scientist at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Professor Wilks was especially interested in the fields of artificial intelligence and the computer processing of language, knowledge and belief. His later research focused on the possibility of software agents having identifiable personalities.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/information-personal-companions

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