Robots are like mechanical butlers, right?

Not anymore. Some machines are programmed to simply respond to our whims, like the excruciatingly named “Botler” roaming the halls of a Silicon Valley hotel, but these days more attention is focused on robots which we can talk to, socialise with and live alongside. Robots that understand us emotionally could look after us when we’re old, for instance. Europe is expected to reach a 2:1 ratio of workers to pensioners by 2060 which is partly why many are looking to robots to help an ageing population cope.

What’s more, commercial social robots like Jibo are being marketed as “one of the family” and offer to make dealing with household tasks and personal goals more pleasurable. Jibo is designed to lie somewhere between your butler and a sibling. Its creator, social roboticist Cynthia Breazeal, says this is crucial. “What we’ve found in many cases is that people do better with social robots than they do with flat-screen devices. They learn better, for example, or they’re more successful with their weight management programme,” she explains.

Social robots may even find a role in institutional settings, helping prisoners “re-socialise” themselves during rehabilitation schemes. This has been achieved for years with prisoner pet partnership programs, but robots might be even better at the job.