Science fiction for a century has been scaring us with robots. Now they’re coming out of movies and into your living room. Today’s robots are more like The Jetson’s docile helper Rosie than Arnold Schwartzenager’s Terminator. Real science has produced robots that crawl, swim, and dance. Some play tennis.
It was Rodney Brooks and his artificial intelligence lab at MIT that inspired the movie title “Fast Cheap and Out of Control.” Brooks’ latest breed of chrome creatures are “humanoids” that play with slinkies, use tools, and respond to facial expressions. One, named Kismet, coos like a baby and perks up its ears when it sees its favorite toy.Soon, robots could be sitting in on your meetings, vacuuming your carpets, even carrying on a conversation. But can they respond to emotions as well as commands? Can you imagine a robot with a personality? The robots are coming, listen in.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
MIT Professor, Rodney Brooks