Raised by robots

Recent generations of children have been raised with an ipad in their hands, but the next generation might also share their world with robots as well.

Living with robots

Robots are taking on more tasks in the world’s cities and making life easier for residents but by doing so create more challenges for policymakers.

Robots can’t do everything

Rather than thinking about how we can simplify cities to accommodate robots, we need robots that work in existing urban environments in all their diversity and complexity.

A world of 250 million robots

Robots will shape the cities of the future — from educating children, to cleaning streets, to protecting borders from military threats and much more.

Robots at work

From taking tours to reducing traffic, the influence of robots on cities is growing fast. But it might be scratching the surface of what’s possible.

Don’t bet the farm on agricultural robots

Robots can help farmers improve crop yields and ease labour shortages but their adoption has been much slower than in other realms such as manufacturing.

Bladerunner 2022

In 1982, Blade Runner floored audiences with its technodystopian depiction of the future. Almost 40 years on, some of these projections seem eerily and depressingly accurate today, particularly in the development of humanoid robots.

Robo-pets!

If having a pet just isn’t practical for your accommodation or lifestyle, could a robotic companion be the next best thing?

Slavery and society

Society should define tasks best left to humans, as well as what can safely be left to autonomous machines, as once a machine takes over a task it will not be an easy to reclaim it.

Robots and the law

Autonomous machines able to think and act for themselves were once the stuff of science fiction, but now they are becoming reality, we need to delve back into a classic novel series for rules to protect ourselves.

Negotiating the morality of human-robot relations

Designers who use ethics to shape better companion robots will end up making better humans too.

Meet your new robot health coach

New research shows “social robots” can help people lose weight by delivering multiple sessions of advice and support without the need for human intervention.