Robots, via PEW

Our "Scientists at Work" podcast episode features Ashley J. Llorens, chief of the Intelligent Systems Center at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. He details how researchers work to bridge the gap between robots that are programmed by humans—and those that can learn and think for themselves.

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Today we have robots that vacuum, talk to us, and even fill out our shopping lists. It isn't hard to imagine a world in which they can do just about anything a human can. In fact, 20 percent of Americans find the concept of machines doing most human jobs in the future to be "extremely realistic," according to the Pew Research Center. But as you'll learn in this week's episode of "After the Fact," most robots still lack an essential human skill: the ability to think.

Host Dan LeDuc (left) and Ashley J. Llorens observe ISaaC, a robot “concierge” at the Intelligent Systems Center at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Credit: Greg Kahn/GRAIN for The Pew Charitable Trusts

First, let's test your robot smarts: When did the word "robot" first appear? a. 1000 B.C. b. 1502 c. 1921 d. 1954 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tim's gut feeling: some folks are freaked out by Alexa...always listening to what is said (to respond when you say her name). How much more so when she becomes an android, looking just like us. Solution? To prevent kids playing with fake guns being shot by police who think the gun is real, some toy guns are painted bright orange, or pink. Could we require human-appearing robots to have some kind of similar branding?