Janus and Robotics

Ever wondered where the name January comes from? It comes from Janus, the Roman god of transitions. Unlike many other Roman gods, Janus was not present in Greek mythology. He is unique to the Roman pantheon.

The duality of the things Janus represents is depicted by his dual face, or bifrons in Latin. Janus's dual face symbolizes the transitions between stages of life and shifts from one historical era to another.

We are living in a time of transitions. Automated systems, ever more present in our daily lives, are changing the way we interact with the world and with each other. We are increasingly more comfortable calling these systems intelligent, despite lacking a proper definition of what intelligence is.

As these systems leave the realm of the purely digital and start interacting with the physical world, we are faced with new and important challenges: how to make them understand the nuances of the physical world? How to make them interact with us in a way that is safe and efficient, without sacrificing our agency?

The transition from digital to physical is rich with opportunities but also riddled with challenges. Tackling them is the goal of our research. Achieving this goal will require a multidisciplinary approach and a deep understanding of the underlying principles behind the systems we are building.

Whether these systems will be a force for shared and inclusive prosperity or the root of new inequalities from an elite with narrow visions is up to simple and apparently superficial decisions we make today. Therefore, we shall hope that Janus, to whom this lab is dedicated, will guide us in making the high-stakes transition of intelligence from humans to robots.