Hyper Evolution: The Rise of the Robots

Episode 2

BBC 4 Series 1 Episode 2
First broadcast 2nd August 2017, 21:00
Duration: 58:47
In this episode, Danielle and Ben investigate whether robots will ever become our friends, if we should trust them with our lives, and if one day they will even become conscious. The programme uncovers the roots of an essential ingredient of any relationship - the art of conversation. The presenters come face to face with a whole range of creations - from one of the first talking robots, Alpha, a 1930s gun-toting womaniser; and the one-sided conversations with Siri; or Valkyrie - a heroic female robot designed to pave the way for us to set up home on Mars; to a little robot called Kirobo - designed to be a companion on the International Space Station. Unbearably cute, Kirobo even has the body language off pat - turning and nodding as he speaks. Ben visits the first attempt to make a robotic brain - a 1940s tortoise born in Bristol - with a rudimentary awareness of its surroundings, before meeting its most advanced descendant - the driverless car. Can Ben overcome his inherent fear of robots and put his trust in a robotic car enough take his hands off the wheel? Finally, we meet some astonishing robots who aren't simply pre-programmed with facts about the world, they learn about it for themselves. The one-metre-high iCub not only looks like a child, but he learns like one. Just like a two-year-old he is learning to count on his fingers and is forming his own unique understanding of the world. As robots continue to evolve, Ben and Danielle consider the unsettling question of what it would mean if robots developed consciousness.

Clips from this programme

Introduction: The fast evolution of Robotics (Dr Ben Garrod + Professor Danielle George MBE), 9 million Robots and counting, ligaments and tendons reproduced, threat to humanity? Thinking Like Us? Artificial Intelligent (AI) Robots, conscious. A Robot comes to life in France with bone-structure and intelligence from a biological perspective

Duration: 04:43
Topics:

Companion Robots working alongside us: Valkyrie - a heroic female robot designed to pave the way for us to set up home on Mars, intended to work independently, all from lines of code, Artificial Intelligent (AI) Robots

Duration: 06:38
Topics:

Talking Robots with voice recognition: Alpha, the old talking robot, (English inventor Harry May) now in Old Sacramento with pre-recorded speech responses from wax cylinders?

Duration: 04:28
Topics:

How robots communicate to us today. Silicon Valley's intelligent voice assistants (e.g. Siri).

Duration: 02:05
Topics:

Japan's emotional bond with robots, not just with speech but with body language. The International Space Station with robot astronaut, Kirobo from Toyota City. Domestic (small) versions to tackle loneliness, Artificial Intelligent (AI) Robots

Duration: 06:57
Topics:

Robots understanding our real world as the human brain does, dealing with the unpredictable. At Bristol Robotics laboratory tortoise buggy robots with a smallest possible artificial brain (Professor Owen Holland) with light and touch sensors (Dr Grey Walter Archive footage), a robot appearing to be Artificial Intelligent (AI), making sense of their environment

Duration: 07:16
Topics:

Autonomous / driverless cars: How close are robots to make sense of the world around them? Audi Piloted Driving, "Jack" - a modified Audi A7

Duration: 08:44
Topics:

Robots with a sense of self as conscious individuals through learning by imitation. Robovie acting as a pro-active sales assistant , (Professor Dylan Glas). This can be scaled up with Big Data and machine learning; a robot's own concept of the world around it , Artificial Intelligent (AI) Robots

Duration: 07:24
Topics:

Plymouth University Centre for Robotic and Neural Systems: One-metre-high iCub robot not only looks like a child, but he learns like one (Professor Angelo Cangelosi, Professor in Artificial Intelligence And Cognition) one word at a time with a simulated brain or neural network, the building block of intelligence (AI) integrated with a physical body, Artificial Intelligent (AI) Robots

Duration: 07:18
Topics:

Summary & Conclusions: Evolution to a new era of robots with consciousness & Artificial Intelligence (AI), discovering more about ourselves

Duration: 03:14
Topics:

Trail for Open University's links

Duration: 00:10

End Titles & Credits

Duration: 00:34

Hyper Evolution: The Rise of the Robots

- Episode 1

Episode 1

First broadcast: 26th July 2017
Duration 58:46

Ben is unashamedly unnerved by the tremendous rate that robots are evolving, whilst Danielle is welcoming them with open arms. To make sense of Ben's fears and Danielle's optimism, they set out to investigate the evolution of robots - treating them as if they are an emerging 'species'. Ben meets one of the most humanlike robots in the world - the disarmingly charming Erica - who might be warm to the touch, but whose sense of humour falls decidedly flat. Their encounter seems weird enough until he meets her creator, who has made a robot twin of himself, and even has cosmetic enhancements to ensure they continue to look the same. He also finds out why it's so difficult for robots to walk like us. This episode uncovers the roots with our obsession with robots in human form, with a visit to the fearsome Eric - the UK's first robot - to unpack the deep distrust of robots inherent in western culture. Danielle meets an early pioneer of robotic movement, who led the way for robots to take over the workplace, and ends up in a sea of robot arms, working in beautiful robotic harmony at a car plant. She also meets the latest breed of robots at Boston Dynamics, who combine biology with technology. Videos of their extraordinary robots - inspired by humans, animals and machines in form - have spawned millions of hits on the internet.

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- Episode 2

Episode 2

First broadcast: 2nd August 2017
Duration 58:47

In this episode, Danielle and Ben investigate whether robots will ever become our friends, if we should trust them with our lives, and if one day they will even become conscious. The programme uncovers the roots of an essential ingredient of any relationship - the art of conversation. The presenters come face to face with a whole range of creations - from one of the first talking robots, Alpha, a 1930s gun-toting womaniser; and the one-sided conversations with Siri; or Valkyrie - a heroic female robot designed to pave the way for us to set up home on Mars; to a little robot called Kirobo - designed to be a companion on the International Space Station. Unbearably cute, Kirobo even has the body language off pat - turning and nodding as he speaks. Ben visits the first attempt to make a robotic brain - a 1940s tortoise born in Bristol - with a rudimentary awareness of its surroundings, before meeting its most advanced descendant - the driverless car. Can Ben overcome his inherent fear of robots and put his trust in a robotic car enough take his hands off the wheel? Finally, we meet some astonishing robots who aren't simply pre-programmed with facts about the world, they learn about it for themselves. The one-metre-high iCub not only looks like a child, but he learns like one. Just like a two-year-old he is learning to count on his fingers and is forming his own unique understanding of the world. As robots continue to evolve, Ben and Danielle consider the unsettling question of what it would mean if robots developed consciousness.

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