{"id":13430,"date":"2020-08-11T11:26:15","date_gmt":"2020-08-11T09:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/?p=13430"},"modified":"2026-07-14T15:52:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T13:52:49","slug":"when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/","title":{"rendered":"Human of #univie Mathias: When machines have a “mind of their own”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIn the beginning, my journey at the University of Vienna was not what one would call linear. I guess some students can sympathise with me in this regard. I had to change my degree programme several times and attend courses from different programmes before finally finding my \u2018home\u2019 at the Faculty of Computer Science<\/a>. Without having any previous knowledge but having a great interest in and a passion for the field, I soon realised that the degree programme in Computer Science<\/a> at the University of Vienna is the perfect mix for me and corresponds to my greatest areas of interest: philosophy, logic, digital technology and the practical application of all these fields.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through my degree programme, I could gain insight into many different areas of computer science that aroused my fascination, especially artificial intelligence (AI). I had already been interested in robots and AI in my youth but the insight I gained into the implementation and use of these technologies shed a whole new light on them. Thus, when it was time to choose a topic for my bachelor’s thesis, I immediately knew that I wanted to write about artificial intelligence. However, I did not want to implement a small, simple project, but something with added value as far as possible. Thanks to the excellent support of my supervisor Simone Kriglstein at the Faculty of Computer Science, who attended to me and my ideas, I was indeed able to meet my grandiloquent goals.<\/span><\/p>\n

In my bachelor’s thesis, I investigate how humans interact with seemingly intelligent machines, especially when these have a \u2018mind of their own\u2019. In practice, this means that users interact with a group of robots in a virtual environment by using virtual reality glasses and the relevant controllers. The aim of the project is to gain knowledge about how humans deal with \u2018intelligent\u2019 machines, how they perceive such machines and how the behaviour or the design of the machines influences the interactions. The finished project has already had an impact on research projects by the Faculty of Psychology. I hope that the results that will be produced can contribute to improving interactions between humans and robots.\u201d \u2013 Mathias Weinhofer<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Mathias studied Computer Science<\/a> at the University of Vienna.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIn the beginning, my journey at the University of Vienna was not what one would call linear. I guess some students can sympathise with me in this regard. I had to change my degree programme several times and attend courses from different programmes before finally finding my \u2018home\u2019 at the Faculty of Computer Science. Without … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":13258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[817],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humans-of-university-of-vienna-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHuman of #univie Mathias: When machines have a "mind of their own" - The univie Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Human of #univie Mathias: When machines have a "mind of their own" - The univie Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIn the beginning, my journey at the University of Vienna was not what one would call linear. I guess some students can sympathise with me in this regard. I had to change my degree programme several times and attend courses from different programmes before finally finding my \u2018home\u2019 at the Faculty of Computer Science. Without … Continued\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The univie Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/univienna\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-11T09:26:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-14T13:52:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/relaunch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/C-Bearbeitet.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2115\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1410\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Armin Ulrich\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@univienna\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@univienna\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Armin Ulrich\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/\",\"name\":\"Human of #univie Mathias: When machines have a \\\"mind of their own\\\" - The univie Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-11T09:26:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-14T13:52:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/#\/schema\/person\/b4e043e3b400bde922186d8f9bf7553e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Human of #univie Mathias: When machines have a „mind of their own“\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/\",\"name\":\"The univie Blog\",\"description\":\"Blog of the University of Vienna\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/#\/schema\/person\/b4e043e3b400bde922186d8f9bf7553e\",\"name\":\"Armin Ulrich\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4766aac7f4ee1481e28c8b2f9e53b1c019b5006fb77582972c8c69e98c4c8b17?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4766aac7f4ee1481e28c8b2f9e53b1c019b5006fb77582972c8c69e98c4c8b17?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Armin Ulrich\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Human of #univie Mathias: When machines have a \"mind of their own\" - The univie Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Human of #univie Mathias: When machines have a \"mind of their own\" - The univie Blog","og_description":"\u201cIn the beginning, my journey at the University of Vienna was not what one would call linear. I guess some students can sympathise with me in this regard. I had to change my degree programme several times and attend courses from different programmes before finally finding my \u2018home\u2019 at the Faculty of Computer Science. Without … Continued","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/","og_site_name":"The univie Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/univienna","article_published_time":"2020-08-11T09:26:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-14T13:52:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2115,"height":1410,"url":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/relaunch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/C-Bearbeitet.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Armin Ulrich","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@univienna","twitter_site":"@univienna","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Armin Ulrich","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/","name":"Human of #univie Mathias: When machines have a \"mind of their own\" - The univie Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-08-11T09:26:15+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-14T13:52:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/#\/schema\/person\/b4e043e3b400bde922186d8f9bf7553e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/humans-of-university-of-vienna-en\/when-machines-have-a-mind-of-their-own\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Human of #univie Mathias: When machines have a „mind of their own“"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/","name":"The univie Blog","description":"Blog of the University of Vienna","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/#\/schema\/person\/b4e043e3b400bde922186d8f9bf7553e","name":"Armin Ulrich","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4766aac7f4ee1481e28c8b2f9e53b1c019b5006fb77582972c8c69e98c4c8b17?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4766aac7f4ee1481e28c8b2f9e53b1c019b5006fb77582972c8c69e98c4c8b17?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Armin Ulrich"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13430"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21826,"href":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13430\/revisions\/21826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.univie.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}