BabyX, the virtual baby

On screen an adult talks to a baby, showing images and words that the baby identifies and says aloud. But this isn’t a parent talking to a child - rather, it’s a researcher talking to an artificially intelligent human known as BabyX. The virtual infant learns and acts just like a real baby, and it could be an important step to creating artificially intelligent brains.

The artificial baby girl is being developed by the Auckland Bioengineering Institute Laboratory for Animate Technologies in New Zealand. Her ‘brain’ is in the form of a computer algorithms that mimic neural behaviour of real infants. And the movements and expressions of her face on screen are devised from actual movements of babies.

Inside BabyX’s virtual brain, simulated neurochemical reactions decide how she will act. She can ‘see’ via a camera on a computer and, using facial recognition, can tell when someone is interacting with her. And she can also hear words and recognise sounds. For example, praising the baby will release virtual dopamine hormone, causing it to smile and giggle on screen.

Hiding from the baby, meanwhile, will cause levels of the cortisol to climb, which will increase BabyX’s stress levels. It’s not a system based on neuroscience, however, but rather through analysis of faces and how certain situations affect the brain.