Scassellati Named Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Fellow

In recognition of his extensive contributions to the field of artificial intelligence, Brian Scassellati has been named a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).

Scassellati is the A. Bartlett Giamatti Professor of Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science at Yale Engineering, with an additional appointment in the Cognitive Science Program. His research focuses on understanding how humans and robots interact with each other, using methods from artificial intelligence to build smarter and more interactive machines and methods from psychology to understand how robots reveal our uniquely human social capabilities.

Scassellati and his students build socially assistive robots to help children with autism spectrum disorder learn social skills, collaborative manufacturing robots that work with people on everyday tasks, and humanoid robots that help us understand why we treat some robots as objects and other robots like people. His research is noted for significantly advancing AI and better understanding human-robot interaction.

Started in 1990, the award recognizes individuals who have made significant, sustained contributions—usually over at least a ten-year period—to the field of artificial intelligence. Only five to ten Fellows are chosen each year with accomplishments ranging from pioneering advances in the theory of artificial intelligence to unusual accomplishments in artificial intelligence technology and AI applications.