Cog (project)
robot from the Humanoid Robotics Group of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cog was a project at the Humanoid Robotics Group of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was based on the hypothesis that human-level intelligence requires gaining experience from interacting with humans, as human infants do. This, in turn, required many interactions with humans over a long period. Because Cog's behavior responded to what humans would consider appropriate and socially salient environmental stimuli, the robot was expected to act more human. This behavior also provided the robot with a better context for deciphering and imitating human behavior. This was intended to allow the robot to learn socially, as humans do.
As of 2003, all development of the project had ceased.
Today, Cog is retired to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology museum.
Principal investigators
Rodney Brooks
Lynn Andrea Stein
Purpose
To study theories of cognitive science and artificial intelligence (AI).
Goals
To design and fabricate a humanoid face for each robot that fosters suitable social contact between robots and humans.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Cog (project)” as robot from the Humanoid Robotics Group of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1054157. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2003.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cog (project)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.