Qianyu Zhang has a dream: to build a robot with dreams of its own.
"I'd love to build a robot with ambitions, which makes plans and has feelings," says the ANU graduate, who has been awarded her Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours).
She has already made a start during her honours year, teaching computers to analyse images and describe them with abstract emotional concepts.
It's a project that could transform the way that we search for images on the internet.
"We used machine learning to analyse 100,000 images from flickr.com, and then tested it on another 100,000," Qianyu says.
"It was a really challenging and interesting project and I had great supervision."
However it was her peers that made her ANU experience special, says Chinese-born Qianyu.
"I love Australia, the people are so friendly. I have met many friends with similar interests and dreams, and we were able to work on projects that we had decided upon,” she says.
"It really is a great university that opens the door to lots of opportunities that will help you no matter which way you go.”
Qianyu plans to work in leading companies in industry and may study further once she has industry experience.
“I hope I can use my knowledge to change the world in a positive way,” she says.
