How Do You Teach Human Interaction to a Robot? Lots of TV

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say a computer rigged to binge-watch television shows may help robots of the future mimic humans.

MIT created an algorithm and exposed it to 600 hours of episodes of shows such as "The Office," ''Big Bang Theory" and "Desperate Housewives." They say the computer learned how to predict whether the actors were about to hug, kiss, shake hands or slap high fives.

Lead researcher Carl Vondrick says the findings eventually could help the next generation of artificial intelligence function less clumsily. Vondrick says one goal is to help future household robots function more smoothly. The findings will be presented next week at a conference in Las Vegas.