In 2015, Japanese multinational SoftBank Robotics released the Pepper robot – a social robot with the ability to read emotions and respond with words and action.
Pepper isn’t perfect – it’s a semi-humanoid robot – but it is already being used in businesses and homes in the UK, US and Japan, mainly to entertain, or to help customers.
According to Associate Professor Pierre Benckendorff as we move through The Fourth Industrial Revolution, robots could soon be able to socialise, communicate and empathise with humans. And British scientists are already looking into it. With a thirty-trillion dollar budget, robots could soon be caring for the eldery.
However, Associate Professor Sarah Kelly advises to be cautious of the ethics behind using machinery to forge a human connection with the elderly.
Read more in CEO Magazine as Associate Professor Pierre Benckendorff and Associate Professor Sarah Kelly tackle the robotic possibilities coming our way.
