In 1990, after graduating from UCSB, Cynthia began graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At MIT's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Cynthia learned how to build autonomous robots—robots that can think for themselves.

Cynthia spent four years creating Kismet, completing it in 2001. This robot could communicate with people in a natural, humanlike way. Kismet had an amazing vision system to "see" the world and microphones to "hear" around it using sensors (electronic devices that can pick up information). In addition to these sensors, Kismet could move naturally thanks to a large number of individual motors (what roboticists call "actuators"). Kismet's "brain" was actually a network of 15 computers. These computers were hidden behind a wall so that they wouldn't distract Kismet's visitors.

Kismet only had a head and neck. Why no body, arms, and legs? Cynthia focused on the part she cared about most because it allowed face to face, personal interaction. "People related to Kismet as if it had a whole body," commented Cynthia. "They interacted with Kismet's head and neck very naturally. No one ever commented, 'Oh it's just a head.'"

In 2002 Cynthia became an assistant professor at MIT, directing the Robotic Life Group. Its mission is to build robots that can work and learn cooperatively with people.

Scientists predict that in the not too distant future, every home will have at least one robot. According to Cynthia, these robots may change your life. "Think of robots as capable partners that can help us. The robots I build don't do things for us, but instead do things with us and work with us as partners."