Connectionists: Jun Tani speaking in Developing Minds Lecture Series on October 1st

[Jochen Triesch]

Dear colleagues,

On October 1st, the Developing Minds global online lecture series is proud to host Jun Tani from OIST, Japan. His talk is entitled: "From Embodied Language Grounding to Systematic Generalization: Developmental Origins of Compositionality in Robots“ and will take place on:

Thursday, October 1, 2026
08:00 am EDT (Eastern Daylight Time, USA)
12:00 UTC (Universal Coordinated Time)
14:00 CEST (Central European Summer Time)
21:00 JST  (Japan Standard Time)

Zoom link: https://uni-frankfurt.zoom-x.de/j/69685146703?pwd=fUXECYbxVOBjuH9dzg02vO1PFOwVSS.1
Meeting-ID: 696 8514 6703
Code: 116482

Abstract:
How can infants develop skills for action and language from relatively limited experience through interaction with the world? This seminar presents a developmental robotics perspective on this question by investigating how compositionality—the capacity to systematically recombine known concepts in novel situations—can emerge through embodied interaction. First, we introduce a brain-inspired neural model based on predictive coding, active inference, and the free-energy principle, in which language, vision, and action are learned jointly [1]. Robotic experiments demonstrate that compositional linguistic representations emerge through sensorimotor experience, enabling generalization to previously unseen language-action combinations. Second, we discuss how self-exploration and intrinsic motivation can further support the development of systematic generalization under sparse learning conditions [2]. By integrating active inference with reinforcement learning, robots learn not only to achieve goals but also to seek information and behavioral novelty. The results suggest that richer compositional experiences promote the emergence of structured internal representations that support generalization beyond training examples. Together, these studies suggest that compositional intelligence can emerge from embodied predictive learning and active exploration, offering a possible developmental account of how systematic generalization can arise from relatively limited experience.

[1] Vijayaraghavan, P., Queißer, J. F., Verduzco-Flores, S., & Tani, J. “Development of compositionality through interactive learning of language and action of robots.” Science Robotics, 10, eadp0751, 2025.

[2] Tinker, T. J., Doya, K., & Tani, J. “Curiosity-Driven Development of Action and Language in Robots Through Self-Exploration.” Science Advances, 12, eaee7533.

Short Bio:
Jun Tani received the D.Eng. degree from Sophia University, Tokyo in 1995. He started his research career with Sony Computer Science Lab. in 1993. He became a PI in RIKEN Brain Science Institute in 2001. He became a tenured Professor at KAIST, South Korea in 2012. He is currently a full Professor at OIST. He is also a visiting professor at The Technical University of Munich. His current research interests include cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, phenomenology, complex adaptive systems, and robotics. He is an author of “Exploring Robotic Minds: Actions, Symbols, and Consciousness as Self-Organizing Dynamic Phenomena." published from Oxford Univ. Press in 2016.

The talk will be recorded and made available for later viewing. For more information on the talk series and recordings of previous events, please visit:

https://sites.google.com/view/developing-minds-series/home

Best regards,
Jochen Triesch


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Prof. Dr. Jochen Triesch
Johanna Quandt Chair for Theoretical Life Sciences
Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies and
Goethe University Frankfurt
Recent publications:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64234-z
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/11204381?casa_token=RBlsm2RTaeMAAAAA:5zY_eavW7knAJ0DY7BmwTrL03kTd_wI-tXT5Oov-da57THFARAv9L7QxicIJhVKALLJshBr2