Robots on my mind

From the Champion newspaper:

John Pugh has explored the possibility of using robots for home help.

The Liberal Democrat MP attended an Intelligent Robots in Science and Society seminar at the House of Commons, quizzing top scientists on how robots are playing an increasing role in human life.

The event took place to make politicians aware of how robots can help with people's daily chores, as well as with medical uses.

Expressing an interest in artificial intelligence - machines that think - for some time, Mr Pugh said: "What I discovered is that those people trying to build robots that help with chores are programming in human characteristics.

"They don't need to have faces or nod their head when receiving instructions but apparently people want that so they are developing human features for machines. They are grappling with the task of teaching robots good manners- not to invade our body space etc.

"It's all very exciting stuff. I am not sure that we're ready yet for a robot home help but the ones I met seemed friendly enough."