Matthias Scheutz
Center Director for Human-AI Interactions, Tufts Institute for AI
Matthias Scheutz received a PhD degree in philosophy from the University of Vienna and a joint Ph.D. in cognitive science and computer science from Indiana University. He is the Karol Family Applied Technology Professor of computer and cognitive science in the Department of Computer Science at Tufts University in the School of Engineering, and Director of the Human-Robot Interaction Laboratory and the HRI Masters and PhD programs.
He has over 400 peer-reviewed publications in artificial intelligence, artificial life, agent-based computing, natural language understanding, cognitive modeling, robotics, human-robot interaction and foundations of cognitive science. His current research focuses on complex ethical cognitive robots with natural language interaction, problem-solving, and instruction-based learning capabilities in open worlds.
Motivation and Inspiration
Matthias’ work is driven by a vision of making robotics more accessible and natural for human interaction, while ensuring robots operate ethically within human social norms. His broader inspiration comes from seeing robots as humanity’s evolutionary ambassadors to space exploration. Beyond his robotics work, he’s deeply fascinated by nutrition science and its potential to treat disease.
