This New York Times article discusses how technology is advancing in the robot industry. Robotists are making robots that can act more like humans and be able to perform more tasks in the human world. Robots are evolving from simple work in factories where they repeat the same processes over and over and will probably soon be able to complete a wider range of tasks. Building robots is very costly and will probably require a lot of funding in order to create more advances in robotic technology. Scientists are attempting to develop software that can help create robots that are safer to use and interact with humans. Some robots may even be able to help to care for the elderly or assist in recreational activities, such as becoming a dance partner for someone practicing dancing. They also hope that robots may be able to fulfill many other positions in the human world, for example, becoming therapists, security guards, guides, and maybe soon even any type of human labor.
I think that advancements in technology are always good to support. However, they should not be taken too far. I feel that even though it may be very impressive to create a robot that can act more like a human and do more human tasks, robotists should not take things too far. If they soon make robots that can replace humans for any type of human labor, that would most likely take away jobs from many people. In my opinion, it still is nice to be able to interact with humans, so I don’t know if I am fully supportive of a future where robots perform more and more tasks usually done by humans.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/science/making-robots-more-like-us.html?pagewanted=1&ref=science