logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2024
26m 29s

Humanoid robots

Bbc World Service
About this episode

We're looking at humanoid robots - the ones that look like us. They have arms and legs. But are they really that practical and useful ? And how might they develop in the future ? Also in this edition of Tech Life, you've heard of charging points for electric cars and bikes ? Well, next it's plug-in points for cruise ships ! We learn about Bitcoin halving. And tech is helping farmers in Ghana to grow more crops.

Presenter: Zoe Kleinman Producer: Tom Quinn

(Photo: An image of Atlas, the Boston Dynamics robot. Credit: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images, and Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)

Up next
Jul 8
AIs on the road
This week on Tech Life, we speak to the company behind an AI safe driving device that's fitted to thousands of delivery vans and fleet vehicles around the world. Using cameras and an onboard AI system, it assesses how safely a vehicle is being driven. And it warns both the driver ... Show More
26m 29s
Jul 1
The future of the internet is up for debate
The way the internet will operate in the future is being discussed at the moment. Will it remain as it is now, or could governments become more involved and take more control ? We speak to ICANN, one of the technical institutions which help to keep the internet functioning, about ... Show More
26m 28s
Jun 24
Digital twin cities
What are the advantages of creating a digital mirror of a city – or an entire island? We speak to a company making digital twins to create simulations of the real world. Then we hear from a real set of twins about their award-winning carbon capture project. And the company sendin ... Show More
26m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2021
Robot as Body
For years, prosthetic technology focused on form over function, on masking lost limbs, rather than agency and usability. But things are changing. Innovations in robotics are giving more people more options, with lower thresholds of entry—and lower price tags, too.  Tilly Lockey t ... Show More
22m 43s
Jul 2023
Tech and AI: 6. What is AI?
Artificial Intelligence has been in the news constantly this year, from a chatbot that can write anything you can imagine, in any style, to scientists and world leaders warning that AI needs to be controlled. With the big tech firms all rushing to make their AI products available ... Show More
13m 50s
Sep 2021
Ruth Aylett and Patricia A. Vargas, "Living with Robots: What Every Anxious Human Needs to Know" (MIT Press, 2021)
There's a lot of hype about robots; some of it is scary and some of it utopian. In this accessible book, two robotics experts reveal the truth about what robots can and can't do, how they work, and what we can reasonably expect their future capabilities to be. It will not only ma ... Show More
1h 5m
Dec 2021
Robot as Vehicle
Self-driving cars are seemingly just around the corner. These robots aren’t quite ready for the streets. For every hyped-up self-driving showcase, there’s a news story about its failure. But the good news is that we get closer every year. Alex Davies steers us through the history ... Show More
24m 26s
Nov 2022
The Morality of Machines
From search engines to chatbots to driverless taxis – artificial intelligence is increasingly a part of our daily lives. But is it always ethical? In this episode, Katie Barnfield explores some of the moral questions raised by new developments in smart technology. Leading researc ... Show More
18m 50s
Jul 2022
Building the future of robotics
Hello and welcome to a special edition of Equity!Today, Alex sat down Brian Heater, a long-tenured TechCrunch denizen, our hardware editor, podcast extraordinaire, and genial chap. He also put together a really neat robotics-focused event that we're hosting next week. The event i ... Show More
22m 11s
Jul 2023
Tech and AI: 10. Can we control AI?
When so-called "generative" Artificial Intelligences like Chat GPT and Google's Bard were made available to the public, they made headlines around the world and raised fears about how fast this type of AI was developing. But realistically, what harm could AI do to people? Is it a ... Show More
13m 51s
Feb 2023
Babbage: An interview with a humanoid robot
Engineers have spent decades trying to create functional humanoid robots, which look and act like humans. But these machines, which combine complex mechanics with generative artificial intelligence models, like ChatGPT, are finally coming-of-age. Are they good enough to sustain a ... Show More
44m 44s
Mar 2023
Mon. 03/20 – Robots All The Way Down
New bots to make video from text prompts. Fending off the bots from biting your style. Falling in love with the bots. In the streaming wars, the ad supported experiments are working, and pricing power is a thing. And the startup that says it’s about to introduce humanoid bots. Re ... Show More
16m 56s