Robotics

Robots seemed to be popping up left and right in articles, so I started wondering if we were entering the Age of Robots. I looked around, and I thought “maybe not.” Certainly, the general-purpose autonomous robot has not entered my life. Apparently, we are closing in on four million domestic robots, but I’ve never actually run across one in use. An additional million are at work in factories, well out of view. (For a reason – even in their limited environments, these machines can be dangerous. Even without invoking science fiction scenarios, accidents happen. In fact, the first death-by-robot occurred 30 years ago!)