The Wire

Dispelling myths about robots In Hollywood blockbusters like I, Robot and The Matrix, robots and machines are depicted in bleak terms as enemies of humanity. But one robot expert, in Australia for science week, claims we have nothing to fear from artificial intelligence. Professor Noel Sharkey maintains that they provide important services to humanity, but unfortunately not enough inspiring engineering students in the Western world think so. Consequently he says that countries such as China and India may end up dominating the world of robotics. Professor Sharkey is a senior media fellow for the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council in the UK. And his job sounds far form boring – he spends much of his time running robotics contests with students from around the world. He caught up with Erica Vowles earlier and outlined some of the benefits of robotics for humanity.

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