Rob: Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English and with me
in the studio is Michelle. Hi Michelle.
Michelle: Hello Rob.
Rob: Today we're talking about robots and a new exhibition at London's Science
museum which is showing some of the amazing developments in robotic
technology.
Michelle: Robots are amazing machines that can really help do a lot of the physical work
that we used to do as humans.
Rob: Of course robots are not a new invention, they've been around for quite a while,
which brings me to today's question. Are you ready?
Michelle: I think so!
Rob: OK, well I wonder if you know when the word robot was first used to describe a
machine that does the work for humans? Was it in:
a) 1880
b) 1900
c) 1920
Michelle: That's a bit of a tricky one. They're all earlier than I would have expected. But
1880 seems too early for me. So I think it's between 1900 or 1920 but I'm going
to play it safe and go for 1900, the middle one.
Rob: That's the beginning of the 20th Century. Well, I'll reveal the correct answer at the
end of the programme. But let's get back to this new exhibition called the
Robotville Festival. It celebrates the most cutting-edge robot designs in the world,
and it features 20 robots from laboratories across Europe.
Michelle: By cutting edge we mean the most up-to-date or latest, and at the exhibition you
can see some of the latest inventions such as a robot that finds things in your
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house, a robotic hand, and a robot designed to read and mimic - or copy - human
expressions.
Rob: Robots have already proven to be useful in industry. In car factories, for example,
one-armed robots lift, weld, and spray-paint cars.
Michelle: But their domestic use is still a long way off according to Katrina Nilsson from
the Science Museum, as we can hear. Listen out for the word she uses to describe
jobs around the house…
Katrina Nilsson from the Science Museum
I think everybody dreams of having a robot to help them out and doing domestic chores. I think
it's a long way off. Robotics has come on a huge amount in recent years because of the money
that research funds like the European Commission have put into robotics across Europe.
Rob: So she thinks robotics – that's the science of designing and operating robots – has
developed a lot in Europe in the past few years. This is due to an increase in
funding for research.
Michelle: So there's more money available. But despite that, having robots helping us
around the home to do domestic chores, like the cleaning or washing, is still a
long way off.
Rob: What a shame, I could really do with someone helping me with the ironing!
Michelle: Well you may have a bit of a wait! But let's now talk about artificial intelligence
– or A.I. for short. This technology now means robots can learn things for
themselves. They don't have to be controlled or programmed by humans.
Rob: This means robots are not only getting smaller and faster they have the
intelligence to be curious, to explore and to learn things.
Michelle: They're almost becoming human!
Rob: Well one of the common features of the robots in this exhibition is that a lot of
them have human features. The robotic hand is a close replica of a human hand,
for example, and many of the robots are meant to mimic human looks and
behaviour.
Michelle: But it's actually quite strange to have these robots which are quite human, but not
exactly human.
Rob: Yes, it's a bit like that robot C-3PO in the Star Wars movies! Some people say this
makes the exhibition a bit creepy. Let's hear from the BBC's Tim Muffett
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speaking to Katrina Nilsson again. She agrees that robots with human features can
be quite unsettling:
BBC's Tim Muffett speaking to Katrina Nilsson
Do we want them to look like humans? Because some of them here do look kind of, a bit humanlike.
But that gets a bit awkward for some people, doesn't it? It gets a bit tricky.
Yes, some of them look quite creepy. The more human they look, the creepier they look. And
that's one of the things the roboticists are exploring; how human do you want your robot to look?
Michelle: I know what she means by creepy! If a robot looks so realistic that it seems almost
human it can be quite unnerving - and you're not sure what it's thinking!
Rob: Katrina Nilsson says that roboticists – the people who design robots – are
exploring how human we want robots to look. As long as they can help me with
the ironing, I don't mind how they look!
Michelle: Well as long as they don't become cleverer than us humans otherwise they could
be taking over the world!
Rob: It's the stuff of science fiction at the moment. Unlike today's question which is
about something in the past. Earlier I asked you if you knew when the word robot
was first used to describe a machine that does the work for humans? Was it:
a) 1880
b) 1900
c) 1920
Michelle: And my answer was 1900.
Rob: And you are wrong. The word robot was first used in a 1920 Czech play called
RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots) in which mechanical slaves rebel against their
human masters. The playwright, Karel Capek, borrowed the word robot from the
Slavic word robota, meaning a forced labourer. OK Michelle, we've just time for
you to remind us of some of the vocabulary that we've heard in today's programme.
Michelle: OK, we had:
exhibition
cutting-edge
laboratories
mimic
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robotics
domestic chores
artifical intelligence
replica
creepy
science fiction
Rob: Thanks Michelle. It's time to go now but please join us again for another 6 Minute
English soon. Bye.
Michelle: Bye!
