From Brian Horton, West Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
The idea that robots can be any shape, so there is no need for them to take a humanoid form, is fine for single-task robots. But to expand on the argument you mention, a driverless car won’t be able to vacuum my floors, and my robovac can’t wash the dishes. In fact, my robovac can’t even open a door to work in the next room. However, a single humanoid robot could drive my car, use a vacuum cleaner, wash dishes and put them away, and so on. A robot with a hammer-shaped fist is handy for construction, but why not give it a regular hand so it can use a hammer, saw, drill and so on. Despite the challenge of creating such robots, I see a future of human-shaped ones that can do most tasks that we can (1 March, p 17).
