PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Mark Lee

Also known as Mark H. Lee, Mark Howard Lee

Mark Lee is a computer scientist at Aberystwyth University whose AI work centres on developmental robotics, which turns the way infants develop into learning strategies for robots. His early research covered control systems for multiple-sensor industrial robots, and he published the book Intelligent Robotics in 1989. From 2011, he led Aberystwyth's team in the EU-funded IM-CLeVeR project, testing ideas about infant learning on an iCub humanoid robot, and in 2014 he was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales. In his 2020 MIT Press book How to Grow a Robot, he described how the iCub developed from newborn helplessness to the abilities of a nine-month-old. Trained in electrical engineering and psychology, he is an Emeritus Professor of Intelligent Systems at Aberystwyth.

Works
37

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026. Citations and h-index are hidden because this OpenAlex record may be incomplete or mix in other authors.

Timeline

  1. 1983

    Monitoring multi-sensor industrial robots

    In 1983, he co-authors a paper with David Preston Barnes and Nigel Hardy on a control and monitoring system for multiple-sensor industrial robots. They present it at the 3rd International Conference on Robot Vision and Sensory Controls in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

  2. 1989

    The book Intelligent Robotics

    His book Intelligent Robotics appears from Open University Press in Milton Keynes in 1989.

  3. 1995

    Editing Intelligent Assembly Systems

    In 1995, he and Jeremy John Rowland publish Intelligent Assembly Systems with World Scientific. The book gathers work from the Centre for Intelligent Systems at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, on automating small-batch assembly, with themes of task-centred robotic assembly, explicit reasoning for fault diagnosis and error handling, and sensor-actuator integration.

  4. 2011–2014

    Leading Aberystwyth's iCub team

    In February 2011, Aberystwyth's Developmental Robotics Group takes delivery of an iCub humanoid robot, one of four in the UK, for the EU-funded IM-CLeVeR project, and he leads the Aberystwyth team, which receives £760,000. The group translates processes of infant development into learning strategies for robots and uses the iCub to test its theories. In January 2014, he co-authors a PLOS ONE paper with Kevin Earland, Patricia Shaw and James Law on how overlap between elements in topographic maps affects sensory-motor learning in robots.

  5. 2014

    A Learned Society of Wales fellowship

    He is elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, the national academy of Wales, in 2014, in its science, technology, engineering, medicine and mathematics area. He is also a Fellow of the IET.

  6. June 2018

    Dev-PSchema and learning through play

    In June 2018, he co-authors a Frontiers in Neurorobotics paper with Suresh Kumar, Patricia Shaw and others presenting Dev-PSchema, a schema-based play generator for artificial agents. Tested in simulation and on the iCub robot, the system builds schemas from playful interaction and chains them into sequences of actions.

  7. 2020

    How to Grow a Robot

    MIT Press publishes his book How to Grow a Robot: Developing Human-Friendly, Social AI in April 2020. It traces the history of robotics and AI and describes his experiments with the iCub humanoid robot, which develops from newborn helplessness to the abilities of a nine-month-old. In October 2020, he argues in The Conversation that an AI system needs a robotic body to develop a sense of self.

  8. As of October 2026

    Emeritus professor at Aberystwyth

    In May 2022, he gives the Hay Festival talk Social Computers and Conversational Robots: Imagining a new path towards human-centred technology. He holds degrees in electrical engineering and psychology and is an Emeritus Professor of Intelligent Systems in Aberystwyth University's Department of Computer Science.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Aberystwyth University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Aberystwyth University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  3. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.
  4. The United States employs an estimated 48% of people shaping AIWe estimate where the people shaping AI work today, how universities, companies and research institutes split across countries, and how country shares have changed since the 1960s.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. A control and monitoring system for multiple-sensor industrial robots - Aberystwyth University research.aber.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. "Intelligent Robotics by Mark H. Lee. Open University Press, Milton Keynes" by L.W. aisel.aisnet.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Intelligent Assembly Systems - Aberystwyth University research.aber.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Child's play - Aberystwyth University aber.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Overlapping Structures in Sensory-Motor Mappings | PLOS One journals.plos.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Mark H. Lee - The Learned Society of Wales learnedsociety.wales. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Staff profiles: Prof Mark Lee, Department of Computer Science, Aberystwyth University aber.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Mark Lee, Author at Interalia Magazine interaliamag.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Developing Hierarchical Schemas and Building Schema Chains Through Practice Play Behavior frontiersin.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. How to Grow a Robot (MIT Press) i-programmer.info. Checked 20 October 2026.
  11. Build a bot: new book covers history and future of robotics – Physics World physicsworld.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  12. Why AI can’t ever reach its full potential without a physical body theconversation.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  13. Computer Scientist: AI Can't Flourish Without a Physical Body futurism.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  14. Aber at Hay - Aberystwyth University courses.aber.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.