The Age of Cultured Machines

Researchers have built a robot that can transfer its skills to other robots. Could this advance pave the way for a robot form of culture?

By Matthew Gwynfryn Thomas and Djuke Veldhuis

Two robots traverse the desert floor. Explosions from a decades-old conflict have left a pockmarked and unstable territory, though many more improvised bombs lie concealed in its vast reaches. Sunlight splays off the beaten edges of Optimus, the smaller robot. Its motors whir as its claw grasps an unusual orb lying by its side. If Optimus were programmed to hope, it would hope the object was just a rock and not another bomb. It couldn’t afford to take many more hits, and its algorithms have grown wary of the risk.

A hulking shape shimmers in the heat as it approaches Optimus, lolling like a huge, headless cowboy. Atlas, the second robot, inspects the orb and knows it holds a cocktail of volatile chemicals. The robot gently lifts the bomb from Optimus’ claw and shows it how to pluck out a barely visible blue wire. Now Optimus will know how to defuse this type of device in the future. As Optimus trundles off to resume its work, Atlas stands as content as a robot can be when saving its little partner from permanent decommission.

Many diverse species learn socially and some even have culture. Chimpanzees, for example, are known for their culturally informed tool use. While many chimps break off the stems of…

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