A Conversation with Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro
Few researchers have shaped our understanding of human–machine interaction as profoundly as Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, professor at Osaka University and director of ATR Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories. Known worldwide for his humanoid robots and avatars, Ishiguro’s work spans robotics and artificial intelligence while drawing deeply from psychology and philosophy.
Yet his motivation is not technological ambition. It is deeply human. Ishiguro builds robots to answer a far more fundamental question: what makes us human? For him, robots are not replacements or endpoints, but experimental mirrors—tools that allow us to compare, test, and better understand human intention, emotion, consciousness, and social behavior.
In this conversation, Ishiguro explores how avatars might extend human presence, reshape education, support aging societies, and help address loneliness. More importantly, he invites us to rethink humanity itself—not as something defined by flesh or biology, but by relationships, intention, and interaction.
Interview by Larissa von Stockert for Quest Magazine
Quest: Professor Ishiguro, thank you for joining us at Quest. To begin, could you introduce yourself to our readers—and tell us what fundamental question currently drives your work?
Professor Ishiguro: My name is Hiroshi Ishiguro. I am a professor at Osaka University and the director of ATR Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories. I’m speaking to you today from my office at ATR.
My current focus is on avatars—teleoperated robots designed to coexist with humans in what I call human–avatar symbiotic societies. Initially, avatars were simple remote-controlled robots. But today, our ambition is much greater: we want avatars to un-derstand the intentions of their operators.
If a robot—or even a computer-generated agent—can grasp human intention, it can act autonomously in meaningful ways. This leads to my central research questions:
What is human intention? How can we detect it? And what is the ideal relationship between humans and robots?
My basic motivation is to understand what human is. Robots are tools for me to understand humanity. Robots as Mirrors of Humanity
Quest: Many people assume your goal is to make robots more human. But in reality, you are using robots to understand humans themselves—is that correct? Professor Ishiguro: Yes, exactly. My true motivation has always been to understand what it means to be human. I was never particularly interested in robots for their own sake. I studied computer science, arti-ficial intelligence, and robotics because they offered tools to explore humanity—our psychology, cogni-tion, even philosophy. Robots are instruments for understanding ourselves.Quest: Almost like a psychologist, then?
Professor Ishiguro: Yes—very much so. I am deeply interested in psychology, cognitive science, and phi-losophy. By building robots, especially human-like robots, we can compare them to ourselves and ob-serve what is similar and what is missing. This con-structive approach—building systems to understand natural phenomena—helps us investigate emotions, consciousness, and identity.
Quest: Why are robots more revealing than simply observing human-to-human interaction?
Professor Ishiguro: Because we cannot open a human brain and observe it directly. But we can do that with robots. We can examine every process inside a machine. A robot is a transparent model of cognition.
This is where AI becomes powerful. Large language models, for example, demonstrate that human-like conversation can be replicated. That suggests hu-man cognition itself may be modeled—at least in part.
Breakthroughs, Limits, and the Body Problem.
Quest: Over your decades of research, what has been the most significant breakthrough?
Professor Ishiguro: Without question, the introduction of deep learning around 2012. That moment changed everything. Without deep learning, today’s AI revolution would not exist.
However, intelligence alone is not enough. Human bodies are extraordinarily sophisticated. Our muscles, skin, and energy systems are vastly superior to current robotic technologies. Motors are nothing like muscles. Batteries are nothing like human energy systems. Human skin is flexible, sensory, and resilient in ways we still cannot replicate.
So while software has advanced rapidly, the physical body remains our greatest challenge.
The breakthrough was deep learning. Without it, we couldn’t have today’s AI movement. 
Avatars in Education—and Beyond
Quest: You’ve used your own avatar to give lectures. How do students respond?
Professor Ishiguro: Interestingly, many students prefer my android to me. They feel less nervous. They ask more questions. Sometimes a robot is better than a real human—especially when authority creates pressure.
More recently, my avatar is no longer fully operated by me. It has absorbed my books, lectures, and interviews and combines that knowledge with large language models. Sometimes, its answers are better than mine. I’m learning from my own robot.
Quest: Do you see this as the future of education?
Professor Ishiguro: Yes. Professors can extend themselves through AI. Once knowledge is encoded, AI agents can teach students anytime, anywhere—adapted to their abilities and preferences. Schools will remain essential for social interaction, but teaching itself will change profoundly.
Loneliness, Aging, and Moral Robots
Quest: Beyond education, where do you see the most urgent applications?
Professor Ishiguro: Aging societies. Loneliness. Labor shortages. In Japan, our population may shrink by 30% within 50 years. We must use robots and AI to maintain a humane, hospitable society.
Robots may even become moral role models. Humans are often selfish. Robots do not need to be. Imagine a robot standing up on a train to offer its seat to an elderly person—and in doing so, remind-ing humans how to behave.
Redefining the Human
Quest: If robots become part of everyday life, what will that teach us about ourselves?
Professor Ishiguro: It will force us to rethink what a human is. We already accept people with prosthetics, artificial hearts, or brain–machine interfaces as fully human. Clearly, humanity is not defined by flesh.
Perhaps it is defined by interaction, relationships, and trust.
We cannot even prove that humans have conscious-ness—yet we believe in each other’s humanity. One day, we may extend that belief to robots.
Humans have two ways of evolution: genes and technology. The Great Misunderstanding
Quest: What do you think is the biggest misunder-standing about robots and AI?
Professor Ishiguro: People fear AI—yet hold smart-phones in their hands. Humans have always evolved through technology. We cannot separate ourselves from it. Our evolution has two paths: genes and tools.
Fear comes from misunderstanding. Technology is not replacing humanity—it is expressing it.
A Final Thought
Quest: If you could leave our readers with one mes-sage, what would it be?
Professor Ishiguro: Ask the fundamental question: What is a human?
If we think deeply about this, we will build better societies, better technologies, and better futures. That question itself is the engine of our evolution.
Hiroshi Ishiguro is a Japanese roboticist and philosopher, widely regarded as one of the world’s leading thinkers on human–robot interaction. He is a professor at Osaka University and the director of ATR Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories, where he researches humanoid robots, androids, and avatar technologies.
Ishiguro is best known for creating highly human-like robots—including androids modeled after himself—which he uses as experimental tools to explore fundamental questions about human nature. His work goes beyond engineering, drawing deeply from psychology, cognitive science, and philosophy to investigate intention, identity, consciousness, and social behavior.
Rather than aiming to replace humans, Ishiguro’s research seeks to better understand what makes us human—and how technology can extend human presence, communication, and empathy. His ideas continue
to shape global debates on AI, robotics, education, and the future of society.
Photography: Daniel Story
