The Rise of the Robots
2. Our Relationship With These Machines
Clips from this programme
Introduction (Adam Rutherford): Caspar, R2D2, Robby, Marvin (Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy), Robots given physical form and character (Robot and Frank), Science Museum (Dr Ben Russell of the Science Museum), humanoid robots (Kodomoroid communication android)
Duration: 04:17
Robots in our own image in movies such as Robby in Forbidden Planet, Gort in Day the Earth Stood Still, HAL in 2001 (And Matthew Sweet )
Duration: 03:12
Isaac Asimov Rules of Robotics
Duration: 02:46
Robot Slaves to serve us: Pepper with sensors providing responsive life-support-Robot Assistants
Duration: 04:15
Caspar, the social Robot from the University of Hertfordshire (Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn) for those on the Autism spectrum - Interaction with robots
Duration: 03:04
Robots and sex (Dr Kate Devlin, Department of Computing, Goldsmiths, University of London), Bladerunner
Duration: 05:15
Industrial Robots, Jobs replaced by robots
Duration: 05:23The Rise of the Robots
1. The Role of Robots in Societies
First broadcast: 7th February 2017
Duration 27:50
The idea of robots goes back to the Ancient Greeks. In myths Hephaestus, the god of fire, created robots to assist in his workshop. In the medieval period the wealthy showed off their automata. In France in the 15th century a Duke of Burgundy had his chateau filled with automata that played practical tricks on his guests, such as spraying water at them. By the 18th century craftsmen were making life like performing robots. In 1738 in Paris people queued to see the amazing flute playing automaton, designed and built by Jacques Vaucanson. With the industrial revolution the idea of automata became intertwined with that of human workers. The word robot first appears in a 1921 play, Rossum's Universal Robots, by Czech author Carel Chapek.
2. Our Relationship With These Machines
First broadcast: 14th February 2017
Duration 27:52
Robots are becoming present in our lives, as companions and as helpers. Some are humanoid, others are like dustbins. Adam Rutherford explores our relationship with these machines. Have we made them to be merely more dextrous versions of us? Why do we want to make replicas of ourselves? Should we be worried that they could replace us at work? Is it a good idea that robots are becoming carers for the elderly and for children with autism? In this programme Adam Rutherford meets some of the latest robots and their designers and compares the current reality with fictional robots from films.
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3. Where Is My Mind?
First broadcast: 21st February 2017
Duration 27:41
Are we ready for artificial intelligences making decisions for us? From Skynet and the Terminator franchise, through Wargames and Ava in Ex Machina, artificial intelligences pervade our cinematic experiences. But AIs are already in the real world, answering our questions on our phones and making diagnoses about our health. Adam Rutherford asks if we are ready for AI, when fiction becomes reality, and we create thinking machines.