This talk takes you through 2,000 years of robot evolution, from the mechanical statue of Cleopatra in Alexandria, to the latest lab experiments. During this journey we touch on issues of technology, morality and the socio-economic effects of a world dominated by robots. As a UX design and service designer, I look at how robots will be increasingly used to deliver service experiences, and what us designers need to do in order to create the perfect human-robot interaction.

1. @andybudd
ROBOTOVERLORDS
I for one welcome our new

2. MECHANICALSERVANTS
We’ve been dreaming of
since the time of the Iliad

3. DISPENSEMILK
The statue of Isis was able to stand,
from its breast, then sit back down

4. ASAMACHINE
During the renaissance, the body was viewed

5. THECLOCKWORKMONK
was an early experiment to replicate
the workings of the human body

6. EARLYAUTOMATAwould have raised the awkward question
of whether machines could have a soul

7. SOPHISTICATEDCURIOSITIES
Automata became increasingly
In the courts of eighteenth century Europe

8. ACHALLENGE
Capturing realistic human motion has always been

9. Uncanny Valley

10. THESILVERSWAN
It’s easier to replicate
simpler forms from nature like

11. ROBOTSLIKEPLEO
We’ve followed a similar technique with

12. SIMPLISTICFORMOFPROGRAMMING
Later automata like THE WRITER had a

13. The work of JACQUES VAUCANSON

14. CHARLESBABBAGE
The work of JACQUES VAUCANSON
went on to inspire the likes of

15. THEMECHANICALTURK
There were many early fakes like

16. WIZARDOFOZTECHNIQUE
Plenty of modern A.I. startups use a similar

17. ROSSUMSUNIVERSALROBOTS
The term was first used in the 1920s play,

18. CULTURALLENS
Robots in fiction quickly became a
to explore societal fears of industrialisation

19. So if you want to look where we’re heading

20. So if you want to look where we’re heading

21. CONSIDERTHEFICTIONOFYOURPAST
So if you want to look where we’re heading

22. THELUDDITEScaptured public imagination 200 years earlier
Fears around technology are nothing new.

23. POPULARCONCERN
Those fears still spark

24. but the factory owners
This time it’s not poor factory workers
RINGING THE ALARM BELLS

25. We need a humanist approach to
DESIGNING ROBOTS AND A.I.

26. juvetagenda.org

27. MARKETINGGIMMICKS
Early robots were largely

28. WITHROBOTSLIKEPEPPER
The same is true today

29. ROBOTSTOSHOOTGUNS
Being human we’re still teaching

30. three laws of robotics
Leading to the real possibility of a
U.N. VERSION OF ASIMOV’S

31. DANGEROUS JOBS
DULL, DUMB, DIRTY &
We used to think robots were limited to

32. 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
40
120
160
200
80
Labour costs
Robot prices

33. LIKE WAREHOUSES
Robots are now leaving the factories
and finding themselves in other environments

34. They are also escaping their cages and learning to
WORK ALONGSIDE HUMANS

35. We’re likely to see a lot more scenes like this
OVER THE COMING YEARS

36. It’s still worth thinking about concepts like
UBI AND THE ROBOT TAX

37. or risk becoming babysitters to the machine
We need to make sure that we amplify
THE BEST OF HUMANITY

38. Fortunately we still have
SOME WAY TO GO YET

39. and underestimate the effect in the long run
We tend to overestimate the effect of a
TECHNOLOGY IN THE SHORT RUN

40. It is comparatively easy to make computers exhibit
ADULT LEVEL PERFORMANCE
on intelligence tests or playing checkers

41. and difficult or impossible to give them
THE SKILLS OF A ONE-YEAR-OLD
when it comes to perception and mobility

42. The Peak of
Inflated Expectations
Robots

43. The Peak of
Inflated Expectations
The Trough of
Disillusionment
The Plateaux of
Productivity
Robots

44. By the time this happens, I’ll be old enough to have
MY OWN ROBOT HELPER

45. In the short term we’re going to see
TOYS, PETS AND MOBILE SPEAKERS
Increasingly sophisticated robot

46. Meanwhile we’re slowly getting better at imitating
ELEMENTS OF HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY

47. I’m confident that we’ll see
RELIABLE, USEFUL, CONSUMER LEVEL ANDROIDS
In some of the peoples in this rooms lifetime

48. The popular narrative is always polarised
EITHER UTOPIA OR DYSTOPIA

49. In reality the future will be both
WEIRDER AND MORE MUNDANE
than any of us can possibly imagine

50. ROBOTOVERLORDS
I for one welcome our new