Robotics are without a doubt, going to be a part of the future of our world whether we choose to accept it, or not. The science of robotics has been a reality for quite some time, however the acceptance of robotics into our everyday culture is becoming an increasingly prevalent phenomena.
In an article by Kanina Foss, Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, one of the the leaders in robotics today, discusses the role of robotics in our near future. He has created a new generation of robots that mimic human tendencies, to the point where it is difficult to tell whether it is human. An interesting point that he brings up is the idea that children can not utilize computers, however they have the ability to interact with other humans (and robots resembling humans). Leading us to the conclusion that these robots will be more inclusive than the computers that we so aptly rely upon. The inclusion of robotics by society will be a transition comparable to that of automobiles and computers.
In fact, MIT has an entire branch of their Computer Science department dedicated to the study of Artificial Intelligence, as Dan James also mentioned. They have a team of graduate students and scientists that are responsible for a humanoid robotics study on a robot named Coco. I believe that with the integration of the study of robotics into our universities, the idea of robots will become more widely accepted by our culture at large.
Sources:
http://phys.org/news/2012-11-future-full-robots.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshi_Ishiguro
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/humanoid-robotics-group/coco/coco.html
I agree with the idea that robotics and their operations need to become more user friendly and ergonomic. It must be said, however, that a line must be established as to how far this should be taken. Ease of use is important and what makes robotics worthwhile for the masses but it should never come to the point where you can't instantly tell the difference between human and robot at first glance.
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