How robots will change our world

Some fear that robots could do half our jobs and even wipe us out. But is that likely?

Smart machines already make our cars and clean our homes. Soon they could drive us about, teach our children, and keep our parents company.

While dealing with the ethical concerns about Artificial Intelligence, Bennie Mols and Nieske Vergunst reveal the history, present and future of robots. They show how moving AI could allow the lame to walk again, rescue survivors from collapsed buildings, and boost the global fight against hunger and pollution.

Welcome to a vivid view of our robot future. With 60 colour photos.

Topics

•From dolls to industrial workers, a history of robots

•How robots respond to their surroundings

•What robots learn about human speech

•Why self-driving cars are safer and greener

•The possibilities of robots in education

•Meet the ‘cyborgs’ who learn to walk again

•Why evolution designs the best robots

•Will rogue robots take over the world?

•Using robots as weapons and drones

•What the future holds: 2100, a Robot Odyssey

Table of Contents

1 A short history of robots, from dolls to androids

• Machines as man throughout history

• Mechanical dolls: forerunners of the robot

• Enter the working humanoid robots

• The next step: android robots that look like you

• Uncanny valley: the problem with creepy robots

2. How do robots see their surroundings?

• Getting to grips with a new environment

• Seeing through the eyes of a robot

• Training robots to recognise objects

• Robots can see what a person cannot see

• Feeling with whiskers: sensing the way forward

• Robots use electronic ears to listen

3. How does a robot brain work?

• A robot must learn to think like a human

• Keeping it simple with an insect brain

• Machine learning is trial and error

• Robots can learn without supervision

• The football world cup for robots

• Developing robot emotional intelligence

4. Giving humans a helping hand

• Robots suck: doing the dirty jobs at home

• A robotic arm reaches deep into the supply chain

• Joseph Engelberger, father of car factory robots

• Co-bots will work alongside people

• Coping with variation is Amazon’s challenge

• Building a robot car

5. Learning to speak to people

• The problem with machine talk

• SHRDLU! The first experiment in robot conversation

• Toilets are hidden: translation problems

• A robotic teacher never runs out of patience

6. Robots get emotional

• Emotional robots encourage humans to interact with them

• A robot can work out how you are feeling

• Why am I afraid? Understanding human emotions Help! My robot looks angry

• Establishing a bond with a robot

7. Humans need robots and robots need humans

• Meet the robot psychologists

• Under-promise and over-deliver performance

• Silicon Valley utopias vs calm technology

• What is the best ratio of robots to humans?

• In the rubble: the search and rescue robot

• The paradox of robotization

8. Humans need robots and robots need humans

• Meet the robot psychologists

• Under-promise and over-deliver performance • Silicon Valley utopias vs calm technology

• What is the best ratio of robots to humans?

• In the rubble: the search and rescue robot

• The paradox of robotization

9. Evolution designs the best robots

• How robots travel in a bumpy world

• Robothand has nature’s grip

• A two-legged walking robot

• The first robot baby

• Working out the best path through evolution

10. Swarming robots show the wisdom of crowds

• The power of robots working together

• A robot swarm without a boss

• Goal is mapping a building about to collapse

• Predicting how a robot will behave

• Robot swarms in the real world

• A robotic swarm looks for a queen

11. The importance of building ethical robots

• Isaac Asimov’s three rules about rogue robots

• When robots go wrong

• Responsible roboticists are planning for the future

• Robots and the UN’s development goals

• How will robots change the human race?

• Killing machines: robots in the military

12. 2100 — A Robot Odyssey

• The future of work in a robotic world

• Fusing mind and body with soft robotics

• And then the smart robot became creative

• Was that move really creative?

• Will robots really take over the world?

Timeline of real and fictional robots

Sources and reading material

About the Author

Bennie Mols is a journalist specialising in robots, artificial intelligence and the human brain. His other books include Turing’s Tango.

Nieske Vergunst studied cognitive artificial intelligence and works as a science information officer. She collects robots and blogs about science and technology.

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