ROBOTS have created quite a bit of noise in the technology industry this past week, from a Lego autobot that aims to solve a Rubik's Cube in record time, to computer powered ping pong playing machines and even "soft" robotic fish that replicate the movements of real sea life.

Come to think of it, the technology industry has been teeming with robot-related announcements over the past year or so, all of which have promoted the growth and development of the idea of artificial intelligence (AI), thus leading to the question: Is artificial intelligence an intrinsic part of our future, or is it just a gimmick?

The latter part of that question can be highlighted by reviewing the themes of most of the announcements in AI over the last year or so, with many developments carrying a more "fun" and perhaps less vital undertone, like Rapiro's programmable Raspberry Pi-powered humanoid robot that was unveiled at CES. It claimed to be able to perform everyday tasks such as tidying your desk, but still - with its 10-20 minute operating time - it is hardly going to change the world.

Perhaps one of the most notable announcements over the past year, however, came in September, when chipmaker Intel told a crowd at its Intel Developer Forum (IDF) that 3D printed open source robots were on their way to "bridge the gap between technology and humanity".

The announcement was part of the firm's Twenty-first Century Robot initiative to "bring science fact to science fiction". It might have sounded like a sci-fi film gone terrifyingly wrong, but Intel futurist Brian David Johnson told the audience that by using 3D printing and open source hardware and software, Intel's somewhat crazy-sounding project would let anyone create robots and alter them and share them in online communities, enabling them to be 3D printed with varying designs in order to be "a smartphone equivalent of a robot".

Intel hasn't said what these robots will be used for or why it thinks we all need them in our lives, but it does suggest that the firm sees such technology, and AI, as intrinsic to the future.

In January, it was reported that another huge technology company, Google, spent $400m to buy a London based AI company called Deepmind.

Deepmind said the partnership would allow it to turbo-charge its mission to harness the power of machine learning tools to "tackle some of society's toughest problems" and "help make our everyday lives more productive and enjoyable".

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Will robots play a vital role in our future?