When Will Humanoid Robots Enter Our Homes and Transform Our Lives
Dreaming of Droids Humans have long been fascinated with the idea of robots made in our own image. Isaac Asimov imagined a futuristic world in which humanoid robots were commonplace and, famously, programmed with the Three Laws of Robotics to help — and not harm — their human counterparts. The Jetsons had Rosie. The Skywalkers had C-3PO. But, when will we be able to have an android assistant in our own homes? We asked our readers to make their own predictions on this matter and got some varied responses. Half of responders predicted that there will be a humanoid robot in every home, citing several different arguments. Solmaz Sadeghi said, in the Futurism survey, that another 15 to 20 years will likely be necessary to develop the technology and make it affordable. A reader who went by “Oblin” wrote that we already have the technology to make smart houses, so humanoid robotic butlers may be an antiquated idea. In any case, Oblin believed robots of some form ...