Lieven Scheire

The humanoid: a robot with arms and legs shaped like a human. It has featured in our stories and films for hundreds of years. But it won’t be long before you come across such a robot in real life: at work, somewhere on the street, or perhaps even in your own home.

Over the past three years, humanoids have undergone a tremendous evolution. Suddenly, they have a well-functioning balance system, can perform acrobatic jumps, navigate unfamiliar terrain, and readily recognise objects, people and situations. Why is progress happening so quickly now? Thanks to AI and digital neural networks.

The first humanoids are now rolling off the production line in factories; they can occasionally be seen at events; and the long-awaited domestic robot is currently undergoing extensive testing.

The coming years will be make-or-break for the humanoid. Will it remain a promising technology that just can’t seem to get the finer details right? Or will it succeed, and will the humanoid suddenly become affordable for anyone who wants one? What, then, will be the consequences for the labour market, public spaces and our daily lives at home? Will there be sports competitions featuring robots? Will humanoids also be permitted for military use? And is it really a good idea to give AI a body, let alone thousands of bodies?

In ‘Robots’, Lieven Scheire discusses humanoid robots, their history, their rapid evolution in recent years, and their promising future. You can take a pessimistic view of it, or a hopeful one, but it all begins with a thorough introduction to these marvellous machines.