Roboticist Daniel H. Wilson returned to the program to talk about the current state of robotics and how robots could be used to battle zombies, invading aliens, werewolves, and ninjas. He detailed the latest evolution in robots that are in the marketplace today, like the Roomba vacuum and automated lawnmowers. According to Wilson, one of the keys to advancements in these "consumer robots" is the ability to have an "emergency stop," both to act as a human override and to assure consumers of safety. He also noted the increasing trend of people being forced to "structure their environment" to accommodate the robots working around them. Wilson talked about some hypothetical or off-kilter uses for robots, as detailed in his latest book How to Build a Robot Army. One such scenario was a zombie outbreak, where he suggested that robots would be ideal since they are immune to becoming zombies, but must also be liquid-proof so that they can destroy their undead attackers. He said th ... More »

Roboticist and writer Daniel H. Wilson discussed the current state of robotics as well as the future implications of various robotic applications and AI. ... More »