Why does humanity need robots? Sometimes, to spare us the need to talk to other humans, according to Andra Keay, managing director of Silicon Valley Robotics.

Speaking at the Web Summit conference in Dublin, she cited the example of Relay, a robot designed to work in hotels, taking items from staff to guests.

“People do enjoy the social interaction with the robot, but it turns out what they enjoy most is not having to have a social interaction with another person at a time when they’re not feeling sociable,” said Keay.

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As a trade association for robotics firms in California’s biggest tech hub, Keay’s job is to publicly talk up the potential for robots, although she did allude to recent debate about the potential risks of artificial intelligence – albeit with a joke.

“We don’t always recognise the future when we see it. How do we recognise robots? We usually look for humanoids: something with a head, arms, legs. Optional glowing red eyes, super-weapons and evil intent to destroy humanity,” she said.



Keay preferred a more basic description of a robot – “Just a machine that senses things and acts” – suggesting that items from cars to washing machines fall under the category.

“Elon Musk called the Tesla Model X a computer in the form of a car. I call it a robot. It’s a machine that senses things and acts … And it’s not just Tesla. Every new car is a robot,” she said, before turning her attention to washing machines.



“Is it a robot? Well, it’s hard for us to tell if the humanoid parts are hidden inside a box,” she said. “We like to divide the world up into humans and things, but robots change everything.”



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Andra Keay on stage at the Web Summit conference. Photograph: Stuart Dredge/The Guardian

Keay’s talk also focused on the potential for a “technologically-blended reality” where we will live alongside “robots that look like things, robots that look like robots, and robots that look like people”.

Besides Relay, she cited the example of “personal healthcare companion” Mabu, which engages patients in conversation and passes the resulting data to doctors – often sparing another human-to-human social interaction that the patient might rather avoid.

Keay also praised OSHbot, a robot designed to work in hardware shops, guiding customers to the right shelf for the product they are looking for, and initiating video calls with human experts for more subjective questions.

“Anything with a screen, in fact anything with speakers and connectivity becomes a gateway for many other people and can offer multiple levels of interaction. Welcome to life with robots,” she said.

“In our new blended reality, robots are an extension of ourselves. Robots are proxies and avatars for other people, and robots have their own alien identity ... Our categories of you, me and it are more fluid than we think. And the ‘it’ is starting to blend ‘you’ and ‘me’ together.”

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