The conference, organized by the Roma Sapienza Foundation, offered an interdisciplinary overview of the current state and future perspectives of artificial intelligence, addressing scientific challenges, ethical and legal implications, and its broader social impact in light of recent EU regulatory initiatives.
Among the many contributions, I particularly appreciated the talks on robotics. Maria Chiara Carrozza, President of the National Research Council of Italy, presented an overview of current trends in robotics as highlighted in the World Robotics 2023 report. She emphasized the continuing expansion of industrial automation, alongside new and promising applications in fields such as microelectronics, food production, and ecorobotics for extreme environments. She also underlined the importance of sustainability, pointing to the need for “robots by design” that are energy-efficient and environmentally responsible.
Equally inspiring was the talk by Manuela Veloso, Professor Emerita at Carnegie Mellon University and Head of J.P. Morgan AI Research, who reflected on her long-standing research in AI and robotics. She described the development of autonomous service robots capable of navigating human environments, interacting symbiotically with people, and learning from them over time. Her notion of symbiotic autonomy, in which robots ask humans for assistance when they reach their limits, reframes the relationship between humans and machines as one of collaboration rather than substitution. Veloso also shared how she has recently translated these principles from robotics to the financial sector, showing how perception, cognition, and action can be reimagined in digital domains.
These perspectives, bridging scientific research, industrial innovation, and societal impact, enriched my understanding of the role robotics plays in shaping the future of AI and its integration into everyday life.
