An expert in artificial intelligence believes we’re not ready for the challenges posed by Saudi Arabia granting a robot citizenship. Key questions about robot identity and rights remain unanswered.
At McMaster University, 40 per cent of assistant professors in engineering are now women and the school is working hard to make the profession more equitable for women.
(Shutterstock)
Engineering has long been a male-dominated profession. Now engineering schools globally are making extraordinary efforts to attract the creative female talent they really need.
Cherie Lacey (left) and Catherine Caudwell interacting with a Furby, one of the first cute home robots.
VUW
Cherie Lacey, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Catherine Caudwell, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
There’s a reason domestic robots are cute. It makes them appear vulnerable and in need of protection - and that makes us forget that they have unprecedented access to our personal data.
Rather than fret about how many jobs future technologies will destroy, we should focus on how to shape them so that they complement the workforce of tomorrow.
In school makerspaces, students problem-solve with traditional craft materials alongside.
digital technologies such as 3D printing, virtual reality, programmable robots and video work.
Robots have the potential to help support a growing population that wants to age in their own homes. But those helpful machines won’t be the humanoid butlers of science fiction.
Artists invented the word ‘robot’, but now robots are becoming artists, or at least assistants, themselves. As robots get smarter, artists will find more and more uses for them, particularly in sculpture.
Will AI take over the world or lead to a bright future for humanity?
Shutterstock/PHOTOCREO Michal Bednarek
Surgeons say minor unintentional damage can happen during surgery, and much of that goes unreported. They say they would be prepared to use robotic tools if they could be shown to help.
For robots to be most useful when working alongside humans, we’ll have to figure out how to make robots that can literally lend us a hand when our own two are not enough.
Technology can help workers in many ways.
Romero, Stahre, Wuest, et al.
Thorsten Wuest, West Virginia University; David Romero, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, and Johan Stahre, Chalmers University of Technology
People will still be needed on factory floors, even as robots become more common. Future operators will have technical support and be super-strong, super-smart and constantly connected.
A noninvasive brain-computer interface based on EEG recordings from the scalp.
Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE), Photo by Mark Stone
Brain-computer interfacing is a hot topic in the tech world, with Elon Musk’s announcement of his new Neuralink startup. Here, researchers separate what’s science from what’s currently still fiction.
University students experiment with human-robot interaction and autonomous manipulation, two elements of manufacturing’s future.
Nikolaus Correll
Today, the U.S. is leading the robotics revolution. But without timely investment, China will overtake us, and could permanently put Americans out of work.
Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society & School of Computing, Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering, Arizona State University