In the capital of Italian artificial intelligence: “Here in Pisa nobody fears the Terminator”

Abel looks up. Someone just entered his room. He observes the visitor and understands that it is a new face. He follows him with his large copper eyes. He moves his soft neck as he begins to understand her gender, height, age. Then he goes further. He seeks eye contact and tries to get inside him, to scrutinize his state of mind.

Abel is a robot. Its armor that is soft to the touch like human skin is that of an android. “Probably among the best, if not the best made so far in the world”. Lorenzo Cominelli he is the coordinator of the research project of the centre Henry Piaggio of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Pisa which gave birth to Abel. It comes from Havel, a Hebrew name, in the etymological “breath of life”.

Abel. A mechanical “breath of life”.

He has the appearance of a deliberately androgynous teenager. “Some people at first sight say that he is a boy, some a girl,” explains the researcher. Abel is a world leader in social robotics. And it is just one example that illustrates what has been happening in Pisa in recent years in terms of robotics and artificial intelligence. His expressions are moved by 22 motors that precisely replicate the movements of a human face. The software and sensors that animate it are able to estimate the psychophysical state of its interlocutor in real time.

A language model based on ChatGpt allows him to speak. To understand what his interlocutor is saying, and to respond. We try. “Hi Abel, today is a really gray day”. A hum breaks the silence for a few seconds: he is processing the information. Then he turns his eyes to the interlocutor by opening his lips: “Good morning, my eyes don’t allow me to see what time it is outside. Do you feel down because it’s gray outside?”.

Abel. A robot that understands emotions (and talks to ChatGpt)

“Abel understands emotions. It can be useful in treating behavioral problems in adolescents, or in treating diseases such as Alzheimer’s,” continues Cominelli. His body “perceives” the space that surrounds it. Data becomes information to be processed. The interaction with the human gradually more and more precise. Effective. A work in progress. Which in Pisa finds a natural habitat.

The center that will boost the development of artificial intelligence in Italy has been identified here in the Pnrr. 114.5 million euros planned to create the Future Ai Research (Fair), which will involve 350 researchers. “Our research center is among the oldest in Europe and we have been dealing with bioengineering and robotics for more than 20 years”, he explains Lucia Pallottine, director of Piaggio. “We think robotics is essential to embody artificial intelligence, which for us is just a tool in our toolbox.”

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In addition to Abel there is Darko, a manipulator arm for industrial logistics capable of throwing objects with precision. And beyond robots there is a whole industry that concerns medical applications. Florinda Chorus she is a researcher. You are studying a way to bring down the cost of diagnosing malaria in poor countries. “Microscopes are very expensive. The process of analyzing blood samples is also a problem,” she says. The solution? A trolley manages to spread the blood sample precisely on the test tube. A lens applied to the cell phone is able to photograph the image in detail. An artificial intelligence analyzes data and responses. She chorus in May she will go to Kenya for testing of her device which she hopes will save millions of people.

Saint Anne. Robotics and medicine and the two souls of the institute

Piaggio is not the only center of excellence in the Pisa area. About ten minutes by train from San Rossore and you arrive in Pontedera. The Biorobotics Institute of the Sant’Anna University is located here. Founded in 2011, 250 people work there. In the entrance-museum of the Institute, amidst robotic arms and android models, a group of female researchers sits around a small table. All Stars on your feet, laptop on your knees. They speak in English. They discuss mathematical models. Here, students and researchers come from all over the world.

“Two souls live in this Institute. That of the software researchers and that of the hardware researchers. This collaboration is the heart of our research on robotics and medicine”, he explains Ariadne Menciassiprorector of the Sant’Anna School and head of the medical robotics and surgery area. The Pnrr is giving a boost to research: “We are very involved. These projects are allowing us to move with other universities. To no longer be isolated centers but to create relationships and synergies also with neighboring centres”. Sant’Anna, he explains, “has obtained 24 million for a project to enhance the biorobotics research infrastructure”. The project is called Brief, Sant’Anna is the leader, together with the Polytechnic of Bari and Federico II of Naples.

Cutting-edge research on robotics and artificial intelligence

Behind us a researcher, headphones on, never stops working. He moves a probe over a gray block of agar, a polysaccharide made from seaweed that simulates the texture of the human body. He tests how hot surgical instruments can get during an operation. One of the many areas in which research is carried out here and which has given the Institute worldwide relevance on these issues. Probes look for diseases such as tumors.

Magnets move endoscopic capsules that move inside the human body reducing the invasiveness of the instruments in the human body to zero. Robotic arms direct tools to hit tumors, burning them: “As in the most ancient tradition of medicine, one cuts and burns. And the machines here “burn” the diseases. If the tumor is a ping pong ball, the analysis makes a continuous series of rice grains. And it hits each of these grains with precision”, continues Menciassi.

The alarm on the Pnrr: “The money is there, but there is a lack of researchers to hire”

The Pnrr it is also an engine for Sant’Anna. But there are critical issues. Nicholas Calf he is full professor of Biorobotics and leads research for wearable robotics in the industrial, medical and sports fields. Born in Naples, he coordinates 30 researchers. Some of his research has also made them become companies: “Here at least half of the professors have created spin-offs. It is frequent in the US, less so in Italy where there is still much to do”. Vitiello, like all his colleagues, is convinced that the Pnrr is a great opportunity.

But together with all the others he admits: “We have difficulty finding skills and talent. The tenders are often deserted and we don’t know how to attract talent from abroad due to the difficulties in obtaining visas in Italy and the low amount of research grants”. The funds of Pnrr risk not being spent. Much of that money is already known that will not be spent. Italy has an ancient shortage of science graduates. And in recent years the situation has worsened: “The few graduates we have are hired by companies even before they discuss their thesis”.

Decades of underinvestment in universities and hiring freezes have driven students away from research as a career option. And now that the money is there, the offer is there but the demand is lacking. Risking creating problems not only for European funds, but also for the research centers that have earned them. “A long-term vision is still missing. The ability to think about what Italian research should be in the next ten years is lacking”, concludes Vitiello.