If you could have your own robot what kind would it be? Rob holds his breath for a robot butler, and Christen wants one to keep pests away. Humans have imagined automatons for hundreds of years, but is robotic technology developing at a disappointing pace or are we at risk of robots taking our jobs in our lifetime?
Science fiction hasn’t done robots any favors imagining how they might run amok as often as they imagine a world with mechanical companions made in our own image. Isaac Asimov laid out his Three Laws of Robotics meant to keep both humans and robots safe, yet even in his own stories robots seem to break these rules. Despite this, many still embrace the robots that endear us like Honda’s Asimo and Pixar’s Wall-E.
Listen to the BBC’s adaptation of Asimov’s Foundation trilogy, recorded in the 70s. Find the recordings as a podcast, and at the internet archive.
Cleaning Apartment with Robots
Best of Asimo
Samsung Handy (one armed robot), vacuum, and Care (basically telepresence robot)
Things that blew our minds this week
Rob discovers the phenomenon of social proof
Christen takes a break to watch some drone footage of a volcano erupting in Iceland.