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Unit 11 Technology
Text A
Robots
Bobots Are About to
Invade Our Lives
From performing
household chores, to entertaining and educating
our children,
to looking after the
elderly, roboticists say we will soon be welcoming
their creations
into our homes and
workplaces.
Researchers believe we are
on the cusp (
转折点）
of a robot
revolution that will mirror
the
explosive growth of the computer revolution from
the 1980s onwards.
They
are
developing
new
laws
for
robot
behavior,
and
designing
new
ways
for
humans
and robots to interact.
think
robotics
technology
will
change
who
we
are,
just
as
eyeglasses
and
fire
changed
who
we
were
before,
says
Rodney
Brookes,
robotics
entrepreneur
and
former director of the
MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory.
Human-like Robots
Commercially available robots are
already beginning to perform everyday tasks
like vacuuming our floors.
The latest prototypes from Japan are
able to help the elderly to get out of bed or
get up after a fall. They can also
remind them when to take medication, or even help
wash their hair
robots
are
not
human
like.
For
example
they
are
things
like
automated
beds
and
wheelchairs
M
says
celebrated
roboticist
Prof
Hiroshi
Ishiguro,
director
of
the
Intelligent
Robotics
Laboratory
at
Osaka
University,
Japan.
He
believes
the
time
is
coming
when
robots
start
looking
less
like
machines, and more like us.
Welcome to the Machine
People are going to have to like, and
important
trust robots before they
welcome
them into their homes, and
several groups around the world are working on
making it
easier to communicate with
them.
Much
of
human
interaction
takes
place
unconsciously,
through
body
language.
Gestures,
eye
contact,
and
concepts
of
personal
are
all
things
that
robots
are
being
taught.
In
learning
about
how
people
interact
with
machines,
researchers
are
also
discovering new roles for robots in our
lives. Robots can communicate with human in
ways that other technology can not.
affect how they interact
with it,
Robots Group at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“We can now start to think about
domains where it's the social interaction, which
is
the
core
means
by
which
a
robot
helps
someone,
through
motivating
them,
or
giving positive
reinforcement
Dr
Breazeal
says
that
means
robots
could
have
applications
in
education,
learning, and
healthcare, where social support is important.
Roboticists have had impressive results
with autistic
（
患自闭症的）
< br>children, who
often find
communication difficult. Children seem to be able
to interact more easily
with a robot
In Control
Science fiction may have primed us for
the coming robot revolution, but it has
also
given
us
an
idea
of
the
types
of
controls
we
may
want
to
consider
before
welcoming robots into
our lives and homes.
One
of
the
most
celebrated
science
fiction
authors,
Isaac
Asimov,
outlined
robot
may
not
injure
a
human
being
or,
through
inaction,
allow
a
human
being to come to harm.
A robot must obey the
orders
given to
it by human beings,
except
where such
orders
would conflict with the First Law.
A
robot
must
protect
its
own
existence
as
long
as
such
protection
does
not
conflict with the First
or Second Laws.
At present, robots are
not sophisticated enough to be made to behave
ethically.
Prof
Winfield
says
that
means
roboticists
building
them
need
to
behave
ethically
instead.
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