AI-assisted learning platform helps robots reason beyond literal commands

What happened

In a study to be presented at the annual Conference on Robot Learning this month, researchers from MIT and New York University introduce FLEX , a flexible feature-editing pipeline for robot motion-planning. The team demonstrated FLEX in several simulated scenarios, including one in which a robot serves a cup of coffee.

Now, a new artificial intelligence-assisted learning platform developed by MIT engineers is enabling robots to read larger meaning into a human’s natural language commands. With FLEX, humans can interact with a robot by giving it instructions in natural, conversational language.

The robot can not only follow the instructions literally but also read into the words to draw larger generalizations that help to improve its motion-planning task. In these virtual scenarios, a person interacts with a robotic arm by typing commands in natural language.

Breadcrumb MIT News The new approach, known as FLEX, could lead to more intuitive, interactive household and assistive robots. Jennifer Chu | MIT News Publication Date : November 9, 2026 Press Inquiries Press Contact : Abby Abazorius Email: abbya@mit.edu Phone: 617-253-2709 MIT News Office Media Download ↓ Download Image Caption : With a new system designed by researchers from MIT and New York University, humans can interact with a robot by giving it instructions in natural, conversational language.

You may not alter the images provided, other than to crop them to size. A credit line must be used when reproducing images; if one is not provided below, credit the images to "MIT."