Computer scientist Takeo Kanade (Hyogo, Japan, 1945) smiles a lot; and she laughs a lot too. Although he is in his eighties, he never gets tired of his work and shows the same passion for technology that he had 40 years ago when he and his colleague Bruce achieved … Lucas that computers have ceased to be little more than shoeboxes with the capacity to calculate wages. What a current professor at Carnegie Mellon University (USA) I wanted the machines to look like people., or that they did it even better. And wow, he got it.
His work in the field artificial vision, of which he is the father, made it possible for cars to operate without someone having to sit behind the wheel or step on the gas. It also allowed robots to work with the same or greater precision than a human being. Achievements that have recently earned him the Frontiers of Knowledge Award from the BBVA Foundation in the Information and Communication Technology category. The ABC talks to him about how he hopes technology will change everyone’s lives in the medium term.
— Newton is said to have come up with the idea of gravity by watching an apple fall. How will you and your colleague Lucas embark on a mission to give machines sight?
— This is a very difficult question. When we started in the 1970s, computers were primarily used for accounting calculations. Using them as information processing devices like humans seemed like a brutal leap. I just thought, why shouldn’t computers do this too? Why can’t they function like a human?
“Technology now appears to be running, and in many cases in front of the user.
-It is true. My general idea is that intelligence, whether natural or artificial, is a virtue that helps us live better. Especially in my field, because we give robots and computers the ability to see. It will help us especially in fields like medicine.
— And you can see better than us?
-In some areas, yes, they already do. This is, for example, facial recognition. Human beings believe that we are very good at recognizing faces, but there are already studies showing that robots are better at distinguishing them. Next, imagine that Superman’s eye can shoot laser beams and measure distance. We don’t have this ability, but robots can. Certainly, computer vision is already better in some areas. But humans still have the ability to connect visual information with what lies behind it much more deeply.
“Can we trust autonomous cars now?
— To some extent, yes. When people drive, we have about 50 meters and 90 degrees of vision around us. But now cars are able to see 200 meters and 360 degrees and easily detect everything in their environment. This prevents accidents. If cars drive themselves in the future, the situation on the roads will improve. And that is the direction we are currently heading.
“Right now there are many companies developing humanoid robots that move in a very similar way to us. How do you hope it will change our lives?
—Humanoids, if we look at their history, it is interesting to see that there are ups and downs between their physical and intellectual abilities. When they have certain mechanical abilities, the intellectual ones lag behind and vice versa. What is happening now is that we are betting more on strength and movement than on intelligence. So they are still far behind humans who are extraordinary machines. We can deftly manipulate things and there are many people who don’t realize that we are the most powerful machines. Best in the world. It will take a long time for robots to be better than humans.
—What about ChatGPT?
—In the area of conversation, within artificial intelligence, things are being done very well. Although, as with humanoid robots, these tools are still far behind humans. It’s progressing, but it’s hard to know how many years are left before the machines at least catch up with us. I’m an optimist. I’d say not before he dies, but I don’t think it will be much later.
— Do you understand that there are people, even scientists, who are afraid of that moment?
– I think it’s a natural reaction. As a natural species, it is perfectly normal to be cautious and reserved about certain things. Especially to things that have very good abilities that were previously monopolized by humans. Intelligence, whether human or artificial, is a virtue, what we need to do is learn to use it better and exploit its potential. Medicine in the 20th century advanced tremendously thanks to the ability to see inside bodies thanks to machines. What happens in the future depends on us; whether we use technology to improve our lives or, for example, to control the population with cameras. That would be abuse.
—Your work is also closely related to the development of fake videos or “deepfakes”. I remember one he did in 2010 where he used Obama’s face and had him speak in Japanese. Now they have become a menace that is used for disinformation.
“I feel responsible for part of the problem. Obama’s was surely the first fake video in history. I did it for fun, but the real motivation is that we were studying human communication and how movement and gestures affect conversation.
-I read that you think the next technology could be teleportation. how would it be
-I don’t think it’s physical teleportation. However, it is conceivable that we can create a very similar sensation at the level of sound, touch and sight.
—How do you expect technology to change our lives by 2030?
— That is very difficult to answer. I am quite sure that artificial intelligence will help us a lot and there will be humanoid robots in our daily life.
