Exploring Android Developmental Psychology in a Simulation World

A research programme oriented toward exploring the development of android cognition in the context of a 3D simulation world is described. The simulation world itself, AGISim, is an open-source project built on a game engine, which allows human-controlled and AI-controlled android agents to interact inside a simulated apartment. AGISim has been used for the embodiment of android agents controlled by the Novamente AI Engine, in the context of an AI-education program guided by Piagetian learning theory. Recent experiments have focused on teaching these android agents to understand the notion of the permanent identity of an agent or an object. Experiments involving the spontaneous learning of “theory of mind” have been designed and will be performed in the near future.