1. Embodiment: Does a laptop have a body?
Pei Wang Temple University
Philadelphia, USA

2. Embodiment Different interpretations: Give the system a body
Give the system a human-like body
Let the system behave according to its experience
Let the system behave according to its sensorimotor experience

3. Body and experience As far as a system is implemented, it has a body
As far as a system interacts with its environment, it has sensors and actuators
“Experience” is the stream of input information, that stretches in time
Experience depends on body

4. Disembodiment A laptop has a body, as well as experience
Its experience comes through some sensorimotor device, though may be described abstractly
Disembodiment of traditional symbolic AI comes from over-idealizing environment and ignoring experience

5. Experience-grounded
Open to unexpected and uncertain experience, and respond in real-time
Decide the meaning of a symbol by its experienced relations with other things
Decide the truth-value of a statement by the evidence collected from experience
Decide the solution to a problem according to available knowledge

6. Difference in experience
Human-like experience is necessary for human-like behavior, though not for intelligence in general
“Intelligence” is not defined by behavior, but by experience-behavior relationship
Though there are practical reasons to simulate human experience, an AI can have non-human experience (and therefore, non-human behavior)

7. Conclusions
“Embodiment” is necessary for AI when it is interpreted as “experience-grounded”
Whether a system is “embodied” is not determined by its body, but by its design principle
To simulate human sensorimotor experience has important values, but is not necessary for every AI system