Category Archives: Robotics

By Naomi Tajitsu | HAGA, Japan

HAGA, Japan Japanese carmaker Honda Motor Co (7267.T) on Thursday spelled out for the first time its plans to develop autonomous cars which can drive on city streets by 2025, building on its strategy to take on rivals in the auto market of the future.

Unveiling its mid-term Vision 2030 strategy plan, Honda said it would boost coordination between R&D, procurement and manufacturing to tame development costs as it acknowledged it must look beyond conventional vehicles to survive in an industry which is moving rapidly into electric and self-driving cars.

Honda has already spelled out plans to market a vehicle which can drive itself on highways by 2020, and the new target for city-capable self-driving cars puts its progress slightly behind rivals like BMW (BMWG.DE).

"We're going to place utmost priority on electrification and advanced safety technologies going forward," Honda CEO Takahiro Hachigo said.

Developing new driving technologies, robotics- and artificial intelligence-driven services and new energy solutions also would be key priorities for Honda in the years ahead, the company said.

LEVELING UP

Honda established a division late last year to develop electric vehicles (EVs) as part of its long-held goal for lower-emission gasoline hybrids, plug-in hybrids, EVs and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) to account for two-thirds of its line-up by 2030, from about 5 percent now.

By 2025, Honda plans to come up with cars with "level 4" standard automated driving functions, meaning they can drive themselves on highways and city roads under most situations.

Achieving such capabilities will require artificial intelligence to detect traffic movements, along with a battery of cameras and sensors to help avoid accidents.

BMW has said it would launch a fully autonomous car by 2021, while Ford Motor Co (F.N) has said it will introduce a vehicle with similar capabilities for ride-sharing purposes in the same year. Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) is planning to launch a car which can drive automatically on city streets by 2020.

Honda has been ramping up R&D spending, earmarking a record 750 billion yen ($6.84 billion) for the year to March.

(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu and Maki Shiraki; Editing by Stephen Coates)

BRUSSELS The European Union wants to make it easier for law enforcement authorities to get electronic evidence directly from tech companies, such as Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google, even when stored in another European country.

BEIJING Alibaba Group Holding Ltd expects revenue growth of 45-49 percent in the 2018 fiscal year, said Chief Financial Officer Maggie Wu on Thursday during an investor conference in Hangzhou, China.

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Honda to focus on self-driving cars, robotics, EVs through 2030 - Reuters

There is plenty of enthusiasm in Westlake High Schools award-winning robotics program, and it has come a long way since being formed 10 years ago. This year, it inaugurated a new home with substantially more space in the old bus barn, but there never seems to be enough room to accommodate the growing interest.

Six different classes are offered and students who cant fit robotics into their schedule during the day, can participate in a team after school.

Students are passionate about this program where science meets fun, and Coach Norman Morgan says that along the way, the top five skills his students learn are: communication, problem-solving, time-management, failure and success.

First Tech Challenge Teams are filled with Freshman and Sophomores, and Juniors and Seniors work on the varsity team which participates in the First Robotics Challenge. Morgan said. The last two years, weve had over 70 students on our varsity team and over 65 on the junior varsity teams.

One of his goals has been to recruit more girls to the program, and theyve increased the number of girls substantially. The team made a concentrated effort to recruit at the seventh-grade level to convince enough girls to sign-up. One of them was Rosemarie Pousset, 17, who will be a senior.

A few girls and I came together and founded the all-girls First Tech Challenge team at Westlake, called the Psionics, Pousset said. Im so proud of the legacy we have here because Ive been mentoring the younger girls. Seeing the girls get hands-on after being afraid to makes me so happy.

Pousset is on the leadership team, which does fundraising pitches. Morgan says they go out and find corporate sponsorships.

Financing the team is always a problem because it is a real expensive, Morgan said. We developed a pitch-deck, and she (Pousset) and a few others trained with a start-up guy. Now they have experience pitching to these multi-national corporations.

Shrey Majmudar, 17, who will also be a senior, is a member of the outreach team who goes to Science days at the elementary schools. He encourages STEM and robotics participation in the middle schools, and informs the public about the teams successes and needs. Voluntary service is a big component of the program.

This summer, were hosting 23 camps through EISD, Majmudar said. We have our teams student volunteers at each of these camps, teaching kids from third to ninth grade about everything from programming their own apps, to 3D printing, to classic LEGO robots.

Every year, First Robotics Competition gives out the Deans List award, its highest honor, to the student whose passion and effectiveness is exemplary in leading their teams. Majmudar was one of four students to win in the 10-year history of the Westlake robotics program.

Morgan also won the Woody Flowers Award, which is the highest honor any team mentor can receive. He was also honored by the Eanes school district with its Teacher of the Year title in 2014.

The First Robotics Competition held every year, brings an intense challenge with a six-week time limit to build and program a large robot capable of playing a field game against competitors. Teams have limited resources and must raise funds and use their wits and imagination to best their opponents. For the past five years in a row, the Westlake team received the Chairmans Award at the regional level of this competition because it best represents a model for other teams to emulate

This years team also got to the subdivision finals of the World Championship competition with their robot-the furthest the team has ever gotten.

Some team members have also traveled the globe to mentor teams in other countries. Alumni of the program are rewarded by acceptance into prestigious colleges and are employed by pioneering technology companies.

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Westlake Robotics exceeds tech challenges - Austin American-Statesman

What happened

Shares of Mazer Robotics(NASDAQ:MZOR), an Israeli-based robotic-surgery company focused on diseases of the spine and brain, fell by 11% in afternoon trading on Thursday.

Mazor released anSEC filing today stating that the Israeli Securities Authority (ISA) conducted a search at the company's office. The ISA is also questioning "certain officers" in connection with aninvestigation being run by the agency.

Mazor's response to this news was brief: "Mazor has not been informed as to the subject matter of the investigation, nor has it been charged with any wrongdoing. Mazor is cooperating fully with the ISA."

As expected, a numberof law firms have already announced their intention to conduct investigations on behalf of shareholders to see ifMazor has misled the public.Given the unexpected news, it's easy to understand why traders are selling off shares today.

Image Source: Getty Images.

Without any additional information, it's hard to know what to make of today's news. It's possible that we could learn a great deal more about this situation tomorrowas CEO Ori Hadomi is scheduled to give a presentation at theJefferies 2017 Global Healthcare Conference at 8:00 a.m. EDT. While the conference is invitation only, a webcast is going to be published on the company's website.

While this news is certainly unsettling, I'm personally still abeliever in Mazor's products and long-term potential. For that reason, I'm content to sit tight until more news surfaces.

Brian Feroldi owns shares of Mazor Robotics. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Why Mazor Robotics Is Tanking Today - Motley Fool

Updated June 09, 2017 10:47:01

A school in the south-east of Perth is working to boost the future workforce in key areas of science and technology by engaging students through robotics.

Science, technology, engineering and maths known as STEM subjects are said to teach people the skills and knowledge needed for 75 per cent of the fastest growing occupations.

Yet despite children being more engaged with technology than ever before, recent studies have shown the number of Australian students in the STEM area is decreasing.

The Robotics Club at Southern River College in Gosnells, about 20 kilometres from Perth, has been running since 2012 and is already having positive results.

"Many of the students have gone on to pursue similar interests in further study," Southern River's deputy principal Mike Erith said.

"And it's not just the technology skills.

"There's all those other higher order skills: the collaboration, leadership, problem solving and team work."

The group meets once a week for two hours after school over two semesters.

Students are given specific missions, which they have to complete through building and programming their robots.

The previous group of students came fifth in a robotics competition at Macquarie University in March which Mr Erith said was a wonderful achievement.

"That group loved the program so much they've even come to me and told me they wanted to start their own club," he said.

"It shows when you open their minds and get that aspect of inquisitiveness in their learning combined with joyful learning they'll want to make it their own. It's a win, win."

The program at Southern River is facilitated through The Smith Family, an education-based charity for children.

WA general manager Ian Moore said people of all backgrounds and gender should be given the opportunity to enter what is fast becoming the job market of the future.

"If we look at students in lower socio-economic backgrounds compared to those in higher socio-economic backgrounds there is a schooling gap in terms of performance in maths and science-related subjects when we get to Year 9 of about three years," he said.

"So some students can be three years behind."

He said the way the program worked was by first grabbing the students' imagination while also delivering a number of skills needed for further study and work in the field.

Mr Moore said there needed to be more access to STEM subjects for everyone especially considering the current fear of a shortage of key science and technology workers down the track.

"Essentially what we've got is a huge cohort of kids and young people that aren't being given the opportunity to take up careers in science and technology," he said.

"And there is absolutely no reason not to include girls in that."

Year 8 student Alexis Gidman is one of three girls in the group at Southern River College.

She said she had always had an interest in the area so signed up right away.

"I want to build limbs for people that have missing ones," she said

"So they can do everything they need to for everyday life."

Dylan Pudwell wants to be a forensic scientist, and said he found the club had helped him in other areas.

"It's helped me with my maths, given me practice with the maths skills," he said.

"And really helped with how I solve problems."

Topics: education, science, robots-and-artificial-intelligence, gosnells-6110, wa, perth-6000

First posted June 09, 2017 07:47:07

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WA robotics students are tech wizards of the future - ABC Online

CareersTech Posted By Terri Williams on June 8, 2017 at 7:05 am

U.S. companies believe that an increase in artificial intelligence and robotics is good for business, according to a new Randstad Sourceright Talent Trends survey. Responses from C-suite and human capital leaders reveal the following:

While companies have been criticized for increasing their use of automation, its actually a good business decision for companies that want to remain competitive. Jim Guerrera is the managing director of SC Novi, an affiliate of MRINetwork, a search consulting firm specializing in recruiting for the automotive, industrial and automation sectors. An increase in AI and robotics will definitely increase productivity and corporate profits, especially in the manufacturing sector, Guerrera tells GoodCall. Companies that do not go all in on automation will be phased out over time, as the automated factories will far out produce those that are not automated.

Making the move to automation isnt cheap, but its well worth the return on investment. Even though it is an expensive capital cost, the way these machines are built today, they will be able to last for several years, off-setting the large upfront capital outlays, Guerrera explains.

However, he says, The work cannot be done with robots alone American manufacturers need skilled and technical workers to operate these facilities.

So, why do Americans in general, and American workers in particular, believe that AI and robotics will take their jobs instead of increase hiring? Hary Bottka, global concepts leader at Randstad Sourceright, tells GoodCall, There has been a lot of focus in the media on the loss of jobs in the U.S., in particular, that certain jobs are moving overseas and are not being replaced.

And since this was a key issue in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, Bottka believes it is still fresh in the minds of the American public.

AI and robotics are a natural next threat, as technology will displace certain job profiles in the coming years. But, Bottka says the survey reveals that these advances in technology will actually create jobs while also changing the skills required by many organizations.

Chris Nicholson is the CEO of Skymind, the company behind Deeplearning4j, a deep learning tool for Java that is used for everything from fraud/anomaly detection to image recognition to predictive analytics.

Nicholson tells GoodCall that many workers may be displaced. Displacement is a good term to explain whats happening, because it implies moving from one job to another. But he admits, Who gains and who loses? Its not always the same people. Bottka agrees that technology will not completely phase out jobs. In reality, technology is producing more of a shift in jobs requiring new skills, as compared to a complete loss of job opportunities for workers.

However, it would be nave to think that companies are not considering employee-related costs when deciding to increase their use of AI and robotics. The rise of health care costs in the U.S. only adds to the desire for plants to get automated, because less overall workers means less overall healthcare expenses, Guerrera explains. And there are other productivity benefits such as the ease and ability of the robots to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year in addition to manufacturing locally, so U.S. manufacturers will be able to greatly reduce their supply chain costs.

As a result, some fears of American workers may be justified. Especially workers who lack the skills to move into other areas.

You cant automate everything, and when companies want to sell their products, they will hire more administrative and sales people, so other roles are growing, Nicholson says. We need to try to get some of the displaced workers into these roles.

He also advises workers to be open to moving to another city or state. A lot of people feel trapped in a local job market, but there are places where the local economy is really healthy and robust but again, this may entail moving to another part of the country.

In fact, Bottka reveals that one of the primary concerns of C-suite and HR leaders is the inability to find the talent they need for some of the new roles created by AI and robotics.

Thats because some of the new roles will require more advanced training. Randstad provides Recruitment Process Outsourcing services to some of its clients, and Bottka says theres definitely been a shift in the types of jobs clients need. Roles such as application developers, service technicians, and hardware or software specialists are now in demand in organizations that traditionally have hired labor to fulfill more manual roles, Bottka explains.

It may be comforting to know that robots are incapable of replacing all U.S. jobs. American manufacturers need skilled and technical workers to operate these facilities, Guerrera says.

But he warns that it wont look anything like the manufacturing work force from the 1970s through the early 2000s. Instead of a plant filled with general manual labor workers and only some skilled workers, the plants will be filled with mostly skilled technical workers, albeit a far lower number of overall employees.

Guerrera describes some of the most in-demand positions:

In addition, Guerrera says that since machines do occasionally break down, workers with general maintenance skills are also needed. Skilled field service personnel and maintenance engineers will be paramount to a top performing automated manufacturing facility because these individuals will perform the important tasks of keeping the machines running.

But manufacturing is just one of the industries looking to increase automation. Bottka and Nicholson warn that employees in other areas should also step up their game. Workers and potential workers must be aware of the skills gaps in the market and tailor their interests, studies and training to prepare themselves to be in a position to fill the these gaps, Bottka says. Specific skills are in limited supply, so there is a need for the existing workforce, as well as incoming workers, to choose an education and training curriculum that prepares them for these jobs.

Nicholson agrees that learning new skills is crucial. A lot of skills are hard to automate, like people skills, where youre dealing with people and helping them. He mentions nurses, therapists, counselors, teachers, and managers as jobs that are difficult to automate. Robots cant provide healthcare; jobs that are people-centric and where you need to need to establish a relationship are pretty safe bets.

Terri Williams Terri Williams graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her education, career, and business articles have been featured on Yahoo! Education, U.S. News & World Report, The Houston Chronicle, and in the print edition of USA Today Special Edition. Terri is also a contributing author to "A Practical Guide to Digital Journalism Ethics," a book published by the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy at Loyola University Chicago.

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AI and Robotics Lead to US Business Growth; Skilled Talent Needed - GoodCall News (blog)

TechCrunch

Robots' role in humanity to be a core topic at TechCrunch Sessions: Robotics TechCrunch At least since Isaac Asimov posited the Three Law of Robotics, many have wondered whether robots would ultimately help or harm humanity. Or maybe do a little of both. Humanity still has time to shape the answer to that question, and we're pleased to ...

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Robots' role in humanity to be a core topic at TechCrunch Sessions: Robotics - TechCrunch

Dr. Daniela Rus

2017 Engelberger Robotics Award for Education

Dr. Daniela Rus is recognized for her leadership as a researcher, innovator and educator in the field of robotics. Her research group, the Distributed Robotics Lab, has developed modular and self-reconfiguring robots, systems of self-organizing robots, networks of robots and sensors for first-responders, mobile sensor networks, techniques for cooperative underwater robotics and new technology for desktop robotics. They have built robots that can tend a garden, bake cookies from scratch, cut a birthday cake, fly in swarms without human aid to perform surveillance functions and dance with humans. The lab has also worked on self-driving golf carts, wheel chairs, scooters, and city cars with the objective of reducing traffic fatalities and providing technologies for personal mobility for the elderly population. Companies such as iRobot and Boeing have commercialized innovations drawn from Dr. Rus' research. She is the first woman to serve as director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and its predecessors the AI Lab and the Lab for Computer Science.

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Joseph F. Engelberger - Robotics Online (press release)

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KLIX) A Lego robot moved to block a goal, sending the ball off the table. A student picked it up and placed it near his teams robot for another shot. His opponents robot once more blocked the ball.

Nobody became angry that goals were missed; the activity was all about having fun.

This was table soccer at the University of Idaho Extension Office on Wednesday morning in Twin Falls. It was the third day of the robotics camp for students. In a room downstairs of the County West building, another team of students prepared their bots to play another form of soccer using plastic donuts.

The students had already participated in several different activities earlier this week, said Extension Educator Suzann Dolecheck, and a few more were planned for Thursday and Friday, including a STEM event focused on literacy.

Braden Mealer, 8, said he enjoyed participating in the table soccer tournament in which his teams robot played the goalkeeper. His favorite activity, however, was making a robotic alligator.

The camp seemed to offer something that attracted each student differently. Eight-year-old Jose Carpenter said she enjoyed the soccer game, while Connor Howard said he liked building an airplane.

Students worked in teams instead of alone. The soccer-playing bots were hooked up to laptops into which the students programmed their movements.

The STEM program science, technology, engineering and math aims to help youthbecome more engaged with tools that will help them be more rounded in an ever-advancing technological world. But the robotics camps also increase students knowledge in language, literacy and social studies.

It shows them a little more of how STEM is applicable, said Alyssa Keyes. The cars we drive are robots, drones are robots.

Later in life, as students become of age to choose a career, they might want to consider something in the scientific or technological field. The camps give them a taste of STEM-related activities and gets them thinking toward a career in technology.

If nothing else, it allows them to have fun with their peers.

This is Keyess second year working as an intern for the university. She said technology has come a long way in just the past few years, as she doesnt remember doing much of what these students were doing on Wednesday.

Classes this week include the WeDo Robotics camp for students in grades K-3, an EV3 and advanced EV3 camp for students in grades 3-6, and a Take to the Skies event for youth in grades 4-9. Dolecheck said another robotics event will be held in July.

Dayton Legg, 11, said he enjoys robotics week because its chance to socialize and work closely with his peers. You dont usually work alone, he said, but instead you are part of a team. He also likes robotics events because they are much broader based than the science camps hes attended.

You get to use more than just science, he said.

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Students Have Fun, Broaden Skills at Robotics Camp - News Radio 1310 KLIX

(HEATH, TX June 7, 2017) The Rockwall-Heath High School Black Hawk Robotics team celebrated its state championship-winning season with an awards ceremony recognizing its standout team members on Monday, June 5.

The following students were honored with awards during the celebratory event, held in the cafeteria at Rockwall-Heath High School:

Darius Day Team Spirit Brandon Diaz Humor Under Fire Garrett Short Gracious Professionalism Geovanni Copioli Rookie All Star Katie Layton Outstanding Veteran Madison Drake Outstanding Leadership Kamrey Mantz Team MVP (non robot) Ben Selle Build Team (Robot) MVP

Each of the teams six volunteer mentors also received honorary plaques during the event.

Black Hawk Robotics Coach Leslie Reese said the students put in well over 400 hours after school throughout the season, including Saturdays and some Sundays a testament to their work ethic and dedication.

Reese said the team started the season with one goal in mind qualifying for the Einstein Round Robin of the FIRST Robotics Competition. Not only did they qualify, the team came away victorious at Einstein and eventually went on to win the Texas UIL Robotics State Championship, capping off their most successful season yet.

The students biggest strength was being able to work together as a team, with the drivers telling the pit crew whats wrong with the robot so they can fix it really fast, the scouts being able to pick the right robots that were going to pair with, that type of thing. Since they get along so well, they communicated very well. Its all communication, and it all has to come together to have a successful season like this, Reese said.

Ive seen us grow as a team a lot, said Rockwall-Heath Junior and Team Media Captain Kamrey Mantz. We were kind of shaky at first, but we have our own little groups that we work with so its pretty productive. Its a good system we make sure everyones involved all the time.

Pit Crew Captain Ben Selle said the robot performed at a high level in competition despite going through a number of changes throughout the season.

If you saw the robot at the start of the season, it looks nothing like it does now. Definitely a lot of iteration, we completely changed everything on there. But the robot performed phenomenally. Towards the end of the season it was running just like we wanted it to run, Selle said.

By Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News. Photos courtesy of Black Hawk Robotics.

Our monthly print edition is delivered free to 19,000+ homes in Rockwall and Heath, TX.

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Black Hawk Robotics celebrates successful season with awards ceremony - Blue Ribbon News

When it comes to the future of artificial intelligence "only a joint approach will make us strong" says Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, and this involves rewriting the Three Laws of Robotics.

Speaking to journalists ahead of the UN's AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, Stadler said it's inevitable that artificial intelligence will become integrated into every aspect of our daily lives, but for it to be accepted the public must first trust it.

Audi has already demonstrated its Audi Q7 driverless technology, created with Nvidia, and Stadler plans to demo its all new 'level three' piloted driving with the new Audi A8 this summer. The goal is level five, where no driver is needed. In terms of technological advancement, Stadler believes we are not that far off and predicts prototypes will be demoed from 2020 onwards if public trust is achieved.

Over the past two years, Audi has brought experts in philosophy, psychology, law, and computer science from MIT Media Lab, Oxford University, Singularity University, along with entrepreneurs, together to join its Beyond Initiative. The initiative's aim is to help develop a framework, debate ethical dilemmas that driverless cars necessitate and "make sure AI will share our values when making decisions". One of the most pressing of these problems, Stadler points out, is that we expect technology to always do the 'right' thing, even when it would be virtually impossible for a human to achieve that.

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Talking about theoretical dilemmas, such as an autonomous vehicle being faced with the choice of harming an elderly person, a pregnant woman, or the passenger in the car, he said: "In such a situation, human beings like you and me have no time for thoughtful decisions. We simply react. Interestingly, we expect the autonomous car to make the right decision, and, quite understandably, people are emotionally touched when thinking of such a scenario. From a rational perspective, such a situation is very unlikely to happen. Of course we as car manufacturers do everything we can to avoid such a situation. Our cars are equipped with many many sensors to detect dangerous situations and to fully brake autonomously if necessary.

"As soon as a car will make decisions by itself in a certain traffic scenario, such a situation can theoretically happen. How should the autonomous car decide when it is not fully clear what will happen in the direction it steers into? Is it ethically sound to choose for the unknown? As a society, we will have to find ways how to deal with these topics. We need an open discourse, in which the massive chances of automated and autonomous driving are considered in relation to the ethical challenges."

To meet these challenges, Stadler suggests we rewrite sci-fi author Isaac Asimov's infamous Three Laws of Robotics. These dictate that AI cannot harm a human, must obey humans unless it means causing harm, and must protect itself as long as that does not involve contradicting the other two laws. Instead, Stadler believes these laws should be: "Number one: we will always handle artificial intelligence based on our human intelligence. Number two: robots and human beings should not harm each other or allow harm by doing nothing. And number three: they should support each other according to their specific capabilities."

Part of Audi's sell for its own future line of driverless cars is providing people with the '25th hour' giving them time they did not have before. Any driverless car should be able to do that. but he suggests that as the technology becomes commonplace, it will more likely see multiple people travelling together in cars for efficiency's sake. Audi will still differentiate itself as the luxury option.

"Maybe you want to take your car alone or do some business. It will be a premium user experience. Maybe it will have an excellent Bang and Olufsen sound system. You could take an hour for relaxation. We are able to hand back to our drivers the 25th hour. Time will be the most precious gift in the future."

Continuing about the future of driving, Stadler said: "The future car I dream of will be a chauffeur who drives me safely wherever I want to go to, a secretary who reminds me what I need to do where and when a butler who gets my groceries, a post box on wheels where couriers can deliver parcels, a private medical staff that keeps an eye on my vital functions and maybe it even becomes an empathetic companion throughout my day. Or in brief: a personal avatar.

"This companion can detect my mood and change the lighting and music and conversation to cheer me up! In a nutshell: AI will allow us to make our lives easier by collecting and interpreting huge amounts of data and by predicting situations of the future. You will be able to play with your children in the car, while the car pays attention to other children playing on the street."

The topic of the summit is AI for good, and, of course, there is plenty of good to be achieved through driverless vehicles beyond the time to relax. Stadler points out that 90 per cent of accidents are caused by human failure, which AI stands to dramatically reduce.

"AI will fundamentally change your mobility, and it's up to all of us to make sure AI is used for the benefit of society. We must set a mechanism for labour markets [to create the] perfect match of man and machine." That relationship between humans and machines needs to be fostered not just in the consumer markets when robot taxis hit the streets and put drivers out of a job, but in Audi's own factories, Stadler said.

"We should not just see the threat, but the opportunities. How the human-machine interface works in a smart factory is always to the benefit of the employee. There's lots of heavy stuff that has to be moved from a to b so why shouldn't technology safeguard employees. And enrichment of jobs will change - there will be different jobs available."

Software engineers and data analysts will be in high demand, and Stadler suggests a basic income could be "the right answer". Humans will still always be better at certain things than machines, such as creativity and empathy, for example.

Yet Audi is definitely not ready to welcome an AI onto its board, as a VC management firm in Hong Kong has already done. "We have the responsibility for 88,000 humans. Sometimes it is good not to be rational alone."

"We have to make sure technology serves society - and not the other way round. Then machines will follow the pace of people again. We want to use AI to secure jobs and to raise the standard of living. At Audi we know: robots wont buy our cars! We have to make sure that our economic system stays in balance. We need a good employment and wealth for our whole economy."

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The Three Laws of Robotics need to be overhauled if AI is to power our homes, cars and lives - Wired.co.uk