Expertise

Topics:  Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Autonomy, Human-Robot Interaction, Human-AI Interaction, AI Education

Industries: Computer Hardware

Dr. Reid Simmons is a Research Professor in the Robotics Institute and Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University. He received his PhD from MIT in Artificial Intelligence, and since coming to CMU in 1988, his research has focused on developing self-reliant robots that can autonomously operate over extended periods of time in unknown, unstructured environments. In addition, his research focuses on human-robot social interaction, especially non-verbal communication through affect, proxemics, motion, and gesture. He is co-PI and Research Director for the NSF-sponsored AI-CARING Institute. Dr. Simmons is an author of over 250 publications on AI, Robotics, and Human-Robot Interaction and has graduated 25 PhD students and 10 MS students. He previously served as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation, where he oversaw the National Robotics Initiative and initiated the Smart and Autonomous Systems program. In 2018, Dr. Simmons helped found the first-in-the-nation standalone undergraduate major in Artificial Intelligence and currently serves as its program director. He is a Fulbright Scholar, a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, a Senior Member of IEEE, and was an ONR Summer Faculty Fellow in 2022.

Media Experience

Want an AI degree? Here’s what you should think about.  — The Star
“Our major goal is to teach students how to understand the foundations of AI technology so they can go out into the world and design and build the next generation,” said Reid Simmons, a computer science professor who directs the major.

AI Undergraduate Courses are Becoming Increasingly Popular  — Business Insider
This piece discusses how more students from various backgrounds are showing interest in AI education. It dives into CMU's history of having one of the first AI programs, and Reid Simmons (Robotics Institute) details how CMU is expanding its programs to keep up with changes in the field.

CMU opens first AI maker space to let stu­dents ‘sharpen the cut­ting edge of AI’  — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"We want students from all over the university — from engineering, business and fine arts — to come and use their creativity to make interesting things happen," Simmons said. "Giving students the freedom to let their imaginations run wild is really what this space is all about."

CMU Puts AI To Work in New NSF-funded Institutes  — Carnegie Mellon University
"What we're trying to do is collaborate. We're not replacing caregivers; we're augmenting their capabilities," Simmons said. "The AI has to adapt to the individual and even more so, it has to adapt to the network the individual is in. We're intending that the AI is going to be assisting people over a long time, and while there will be plenty of time for the system to learn, there will also be plenty to learn."

The Salad Days of AI  — Carnegie Mellon University
Reid Simmons, who teaches the course with Stephanie Rosenthal, said using AI to grow vegetables is a good way for students to put the knowledge of AI-based autonomous agents that they learned in class into practice. Agents have applications in many areas, such as self-driving cars, intelligent factories and smart homes. Another — automated greenhouses — proved a good match to the need for a course exercise.

What the country’s first undergrad program in artificial intelligence will look like  — EdScoop
The Pittsburgh-based university already offers nearly two dozen courses in AI and related fields, said Reid Simmons, a Carnegie Mellon research professor who is currently on leave for the year while he works at the National Science Foundation.

This Scrabble-Playing Robot Is a Sore Loser  — The Wall Street Journal
"Sometimes, I hate this game," says Victor, a Scrabble-playing robot created by students under the supervision of Reid Simmons, a robotics professor at Carnegie Mellon University here. Victor's secret is that he talks a better game than he plays. He is a champion trash talker. A typical put-down: "Since you're human, I guess you think that's a pretty good move."