Where Are The Robots We Were Promised?

About this episode

This episode explores the unfulfilled promise of robots in daily life and the implications for human identity.

This episode is a live recording of the Raising the Bar event that took place on 10 September 2024 in Christchurch, New Zealand. I explore the long-standing promise of robots that would handle household tasks and serve as teachers, caregivers, and companions. Despite advancements in social robots, they remain absent from our daily lives. Figures like Elon Musk continue to push the dream of humanoid robots, yet we must first ask what tasks are best left to humans. The rise of human-like robots also challenges us to reflect on our own identity and humanity. Transcript The transcript of the episode is available as a PDF. You can also follow the episode with subtitles through  Descript . HRI-Podcast-Episode-033-Where-Are-The-Robots-We-Were-Promised ISSN 2703-4054 Important Links: Raising The Bar Podcast Able Mable Robot Tesla Optimus bots were controlled by humans during the ‘We, Robot’ event

People in this episode

Host: Christoph Bartneck

Topics covered

• robots
• human-robot interaction
• technology
• identity
• society

Keywords

• robots
• household tasks
• social robots
• humanoid robots
• human identity

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Tesla Optimus

Books & works: HRI-Podcast-Episode-033-Where-Are-The-Robots-We-Were-Promised

Places: Christchurch, New Zealand

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