Humanoid robots could also take robotics back to the factory floor in the 21st century. Theres a very pragmatic engineering reason to build humanoid robots, and thats because most of our environment h
Humanoid robots could also take robotics back to the factory floor in the 21st century. Theres a very pragmatic engineering reason to build humanoid robots, and thats because most of our environment has been designed for humans. If you want a robot to go up and down walkways in a nuclear power plant, then its reasonable to design it about the same size and shape as a human, said Thorpe.
What seems to be happening is that two different paths are converging. The Honda robot is the child of two parents: one is the industrial robot and the other is the entertainment robot. I see it going in both paths: eventually it could evolve into a factory robot thats very humanoid, or it could take its place in the home, agreed Rosheim.
Does this mean were on the brink of Capeks vision being realised? Will robots replace workers on the factory floor, or care workers in the home? Could they even, eventually, revolt and rule the world? Theres no simple answer. Robots have already replaced workers for some of the more dangerous jobs in factories, such as spray painting and die-casting. Robots are also, in some respects, already procreating, as they take over in the clean rooms of electronic factories where impurities such as human hair and skin would ruin the manufacturing process.
Putting a robot in the home is a harder task still. A factory is a very structured environment, unlike the home, which would require a very smart and dexterous robot, said Rosheim.
Engelberger is more optimistic. Today, voice recognition is pretty advanced, and with two arms and pretty good artificial vision I could sit in the living room and tell my robot please get me a beer, and be fairly confident it would come back with beer rather than milk. In the US, 90% of all products are barcoded and robots can read barcodes easily, so we could have the robot take deliveries, order things from the stores, put them away in cabinets, cook recipes and be generally useful, he said.
We may well see robots at work and at home but as for taking over the world artificial intelligence is still literally in its infancy. Wasedas piano-playing robot, the WABOT-2, still only equates to a mental age of around two. Similarly, Cog wouldnt pass the Turing test, still considered a rough benchmark for machine intelligence. A newer experimental field of research is looking
to give machines emotions but as yet has had few real results. For the time being, machines have little desire for world domination, and even if they did its unlikely they would be successful. It will be some time before were threatened by Capeks vision of robots, or need to deploy Asimovs Law of Robotics for the preservation of mankind, although it may only be a matter of time. . .