Columbia University engineers create a robot that shows basic empathy Shane McGlaun - Jan 14, 2021, 7:46am CST Engineers at Columbia University have created a robot that can learn to visually predict how it’s partner robot will behave. The engineers say that the robot has displayed a glimmer of empathy. The breakthrough could help robots get along with other robots and humans more intuitively in the future. The robot learned to predict its partner robot’s future actions and goals based on a few initial video frames. Predicting what other people nearby will do is something that comes naturally to humans, and it makes it easier for us to live and work together. Predicting future movements is a significant challenge for robots and is something that robots have been inept at. Columbia Engineering researchers have been part of a broader effort to help robots understand and anticipate the goals of other robots using visual observations.