Young Tech Wiz Instills Kindness in Robots

If Benjamin Graham Goodhart – known as Graham – has his way, kindness would permeate society – even with the humanoid robots that he expects will live alongside human beings in the world of the future.

Goodhart has been on a steady path to study how small acts of kindness impact people and society at large. Beginning with a freak accident at a park where he almost lost an eye at age 7, Goodhart was inspired by a paramedic’s act of kindness when he arrived on the scene to help him.

“I was a little kid, terrified, and in that moment, the paramedic told me a joke that instantly changed my mood and, I believe, affected the outcome. I will never forget how his kindness was able to cut through the chaos and shift the entire situation,” said Goodhart.

Motivated in part by Carl Sagan’s Golden Record, two discs created to carry the sights and sounds of humanity into the cosmos for possible retrieval by other civilizations, Goodhart has focused his work on what some may call the world’s future: the emerging field of humanoid robotics, dedicated to instilling more than a measure of human kindness into their code.

“We will soon live side by side with humanoid robots, and it is imperative that they reflect our best values,” said Goodhart. “At the end of the day, there is a lot riding on getting our interactions with robots to work,” he added.

Currently a senior at The Weber School in Sandy Springs, Goodhart traveled earlier this year to Massachusetts where he was invited to give a TEDx talk on the neuroscience of kindness, specifically on how to scale kindness at a societal level. He spoke alongside Harvard physicians who were duly impressed by both the topic and his skill as a speaker. His talk gained traction, and Goodhart went on to garner quite a bit of praise from researchers and professors at Yale, Stanford, MIT, and Cornell universities. As a result, Goodhart was recently invited by the TED organization to host his own TEDx series.

Not content to rest on his laurels, Goodhart has completed phases one and two of a study looking at robotic acts of kindness. For phase one, he completed one of the few and largest datasets in existence of humans ranking “robot acts of kindness.” He has authored and published a study examining the findings and implications, in fact.

Wendy A. Rogers, the Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan professor of applied health sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, called Goodhart’s work “very impressive” after she reviewed the phase one findings in her lab.

Phase two involved a second study that involved looking at 10,000 preferences – 1,000 people each providing 10 responses – regarding the types of kind acts performed – for example, whether people prefer a robot carrying groceries or holding the door for them. This study’s aim was to understand if individuals actually have a categorical preference for robotic acts of kindness and which specific actions people most appreciate in robots. The ultimate goal is to use this data and the further research to train the humanoid robots.

We will soon live side by side with humanoid robots, and it is imperative that they reflect our best values.

Hannah Chapple, PhD, the dean of studies at The Weber School, who knows Goodhart’s work well and was also his teacher for AP Seminar, is as impressed by his kindness as she is by his intellectual curiosity.

“Kindness is personally important to Graham. He is a student who doesn’t have to be asked for help. I have noticed his interactions with others. In addition, what’s unique about him is his intellectual curiosity. He looks at the world around him and not only asks why, but what’s next. His work is very forward-looking,” she said.

As Goodhart embarks on his next chapter – the upcoming TEDx series, more research and college attendance – his colleagues, family, and friends await his next set of findings that will help direct the behavior of the robots of the future.