USyd ties up with Chinese robot maker for AI centre

The University of Sydney and Chinese humanoid robot maker Ubtech have set up a $7.5 million research centre to examine artificially-intelligent machines like robots, self-driving cars, and drones.

Ubtech's Alpha 2 robot.

The Ubtech Sydney artificial intelligence centre will be led by director Professor Dacheng Tao and will involve researchers drawn from across a range of disciplines.

The centre is yet to begin operation, but when it does the university said it would collaborate “with government and technology companies” on large-scale national and international problems in AI.

“It will also cultivate the next generation of AI researchers through PhD programs that involve both academic and industry training and collaboration,” the university said in a statement.

Professor Tao said the centre’s work “will drive progress in AI to endow machines with the capabilities to perceive, learn, reason and behave".

“As humans, our perceptions of our environments allow us to understand events, make logical deductions and learn how to behave in certain situations. We expect that one day in the not-too-distant future machines will be able to do these same things, just like us – or possibly even better,” he said.