Robert: The rewards and risks of using AI-powered technologies on our pets
Tuesday, 06/18/2024
Artificial intelligence is changing how we care for, monitor and spend time with our pets. New technologies include AI-powered pet cameras, smart collars with disease-detection capabilities and translators that can allegedly turn a cat’s meow into human language.
Though exciting, these innovations are leaving experts concerned about privacy and safety, as well as the ethical repercussions of adapting these technologies into our everyday interactions with our pets.
The Washington Post spoke with University of Michigan School of Information professor Lionel Robert, an expert on robots and AI, about his thoughts on the relationship between humans, AI and pet ownership.
“It’s going to be interesting to see whether AI complements our pet ownership or replaces it,” Robert says. “There’s huge potential. But there’s equally huge risk.”
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Read “How AI is helping (and possibly harming) our pets” in The Washington Post.
Lionel Robert is a professor of information at UMSI and a professor of robotics at the College of Engineering. Learn more about his research and work by visiting his UMSI faculty profile.