Lieven Scheire, Robots (Try-out) - Machines in human form

The humanoid: a robot with arms and legs that has the shape of a human. For hundreds of years, it has populated our stories and films. But it won't be long before you encounter such a robot in real life: at work, somewhere on the street, or perhaps even at your home. Over the past three years, humanoids have undergone a huge evolution. Suddenly they have a well-functioning balance system, they can make acrobatic jumps, they navigate through unknown terrain, and they easily recognize objects, people, and situations. Why is it going so fast now? Thanks to AI and digital neural networks. The first humanoids are now on the assembly line in factories, they are occasionally seen at events, and the long-awaited household robot is also currently being fully tested. The coming years are make-or-break for the humanoid. Will it remain a promising technology that just can't seem to get the final details right? Or will it succeed and will the humanoid suddenly become affordable for those who want one? What are the consequences for the labor market, public space, and our daily life at home? Will there be sports competitions with robots? May humanoids also be used militarily? And is it a good idea to give AI a body, let alone thousands of bodies? In ‘Robots’, Lieven Scheire talks about the human-shaped robot, its history, its rapid evolution of the past years, and its promising future. You can doom-think about it, you can hope-think about it, but everything starts with a thorough acquaintance with these wonderful machines.