Experts think that it will take time before robots are developed that can think like humans. Scientists think that one of the main steps towards artificial intelligence is self-awareness.

Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute AI and Reasoning Lab in New York updated the 'wise men puzzle' and posed the problem on three robots and one of them was able to clear the test.

The researchers have affirmed that test was simplified and adapted to robots. The puzzle involved three wise being given hats either of white or blue color. They were given the hat with an assurance that at least one of the hats is of blue color.

But the twist was the men were not allowed to talk to each other. The one who correctly announced his hat's color would be the winner. For the self awareness test, three robots of French robotics company Aldebaran's humanoid Nao robots, were used.

They were programmed with a proprietary algorithm called Deontic Cognitive Event Calculus. This feature allowed the robots to perform reasoning. The robots were told that two of them have been given 'dumbing pills', which made them unable to speak and to one a placebo. In reality, they all had a button on their heads that were pressed.

However, no difference was found in the result. In the next phase, the robots were asked whether they have dumbing pill or the placebo. After long silence, one robot stop stood and said, 'I don't know'. Again, it stands and said, 'Sorry, I know now. I was able to prove that I was not given the dumbing pill'.

Selmer Bringsjord, head of the department of cognitive science at the institute, will present the work at the IEEE symposium on robot and human interactive communication to be held from August 31 to September 4 in Kobe, Japan.