When you look into a mirror, can you recognize that you are looking at your own reflection? Hopefully you can; humans are among a select few animals (including primates, elephants, and dolphins) that are able to distinguish that they are looking at their own reflection. With such few organisms being able to accomplish this seemingly simple task, it is indeed quite an undertaking by Yale scientists who are trying to create a robot that is able to be aware of itself by noticing that it looking at its own reflection. Meet Nico, an old robot who is learning new tricks thanks to advancements in software that are being developed to allow him to process the visual cues he sees in the mirror.
The “mirror test was originally developed in 1970 and has become the classic test of self-awareness
More usually performed on animals, the creature is given time to get used to the mirror” and are then marked with a dye. “The animal’s reaction to their reflection is used as a gauge of their self-awareness, based on whether they inspect the mark on their own body, or react as if it does not appear on themselves.”