Understanding the Eye in AI

AI is here to stay, and both the AI and robotic development curves are upwardly steep, The future of work and culture will be dramatically influenced by humans learning to work through smart, automated digital technology that augments and enhances human capabilities. Citing the increasing opportunity for expanding human-AI integration, Los Angeles ophthalmologist Alan Shabo points to the term "cobotics"—a portmanteau of "cooperative robotics"—denoting human-centered AI, combining and enhancing both human and robotic capabilities.

The use of the words “cooperation” and “robotics” together first emerged in the mid 1990’s, when Shabo was working as a consultant on interactive digital technology for Philips Interactive Media. One way to develop AI with the capability to think like the human brain and to digitally translate thoughts into behaviors, he found, is by operationalizing sensory input through eye emulators that perform as modems to the brain.

Eye-type digital modems with optical sensors can help us achieve and manage human-centered cobotic behavior. The retina of the eye, whether human or machine, is the modem to the brain, and the brain is the modem to the mind, Shabo explains. The mind, through the brain, is the controller of the five senses, i.e., sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. Synesthesia is the blending of the senses, and each of us is gifted with our own unique degree of synesthesia. Blending human senses through cobotics can enhance and amplify human capabilities through AI.

Whether human or machine, they eye is a photoreceptor modem making it possible for AI to digitally emulate human behavior. This channel is the secret of robots. As Shabo explains, 50% to 60% of brain function is involved with vision, either in interpreting images or coordinating eye movements. This is a thinking and behavior management function.

When the eyes are open, it is estimated that vision accounts for two-thirds of the electrical activity of the brain. In addition, 80% of what we learn is accomplished through visual processing of information. This means that replicating the eye, digitally as a cobotic communications modem, is central to the development of human-robot integration. Given the dominance of vision and use of the digital eye as a gateway to all the senses, one can easily imagine the nature of cooperative robotics and the cobotic connection. Humans, AI, and cobots are synergistic.

The future of AI extends far beyond heightened computer power and interpreting big data. “Artificial intelligence and the future of work will include human-machine communications in diverse forms, using visual access modems as gateways to the brain and the mind," says Shabo. "Cooperative robotics, using modems linking the humans and robots, has a major future in initiating the changing nature of jobs in education, commerce, entertainment, public policy, our culture and shaping our quality of life."

The biblical declaration that “the eye is the gateway to the soul” is also a metaphorical expression that a person's eyes can reveal and apply their emotions, intentions, and desires. For Shabo, “the eye is a window and controller for the five senses and the gateway to human and computer-centered artificial intelligence.” The future of artificial intelligence will include robotic emulation of the senses through the modem of the eye. Blending the senses in human-robot interaction will make cobots user-friendly for a wide range of workers.