Science fiction often speculates about robots that are virtually indistinguishable from humans. Yet, the most popular consumer robot is still a vacuum cleaner shaped like a disc. In factories and warehouses, human staff work alongside robots that are incredibly good at performing repetitive and dangerous tasks but do not look or behave like humans.
In the future, AI will allow robots to identify human emotions, and the field of soft robotics is developing robots from materials similar to those found in living organisms. There is a chance that one day, life will imitate art, and robots will look like people. If and when that happens, societies will face an ethical conundrum: what rights do we give non-human creatures that look like us?
In our next issue, we explore how recent advances are helping to unlock the full potential of robotics, and how this will impact businesses across different sectors in the coming years.
