U.K. scientist Steve Grand has developed ‘Lucy,’ a five-CPU robot that can—on a good day—distinguish between an apple and a banana. While that may not sound like an amazing feat, bear in mind that rather using software shortcuts, Lucy’s ‘50,000 neuron’ brain used trial and error to develop the skills necessary to differentiate the shapes. Grand is currently out pressing the flesh in support of his new book, “Growing Up with Lucy: How to Build an Android in Twenty Easy Steps.” Grand designed Lucy to look like an orangutan because “you [can] imagine how scary it would be if she looked like a human baby.”
