How robots are changing our world 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 photos. 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 5. Learning to speak to people The problem with machine talk SHRDLU! The first experiment in robot conversation Toilets are hidden: translation problems 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 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 8. 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 9. Swarming robots show the wisdom of crowds The power of robots working together A robot swarm without a boss Predicting how a robot will behave Robot swarms in the real world 10. 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 UN development goals Killing machines: robots in the military 11. 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 Will robots really take over the world? Buy and start reading