»The robot should be a likeable tool«

Mara: It is virtually impossible to teach robots human capabilities such as empathic communication, creativity when dealing with new concepts, or irony. It is also difficult to imitate various motor skills. Walking upright along a busy shopping street, for example, or the dexterity involved in handling different materials such as glass or paper. However, robots have their strengths in many other areas. Besides, there is no real need to replicate what humans can already do very well.

Mara: In the short term, I see further development of cleaning and lawn-mowing robots and also simple social robots for household use that, when requested, can take photos, play games or search for information on the web, for example. Essentially, an advanced form of voice-controlled systems. Furthermore, there is certainly potential for mobile transport robots that can fetch objects or possibly even deliver packages.

Mara: In the medium term, we need to ask ourselves the following question: what do we actually want to automate? What should humans do and what tasks should be taken over by robots? It can make sense to transfer tasks to robots and artificial intelligence so that we have more time for other things. We benefit most when robots collaborate with us on a complementary basis.

Mara: We know that people often respond skeptically to robots if their appearance or behavior becomes too human-like. That triggers unease. While this is not generally a problem in the case of collaborative robots in the workplace, more should nevertheless be done here to address the different needs of different people. The requirements of an expert differ from those of an untrained layman. One person might prefer a more active interaction partner, while another might get along better with a more restrained robot that does not present the next workpiece until the user has issued a command. Custom-tailored robot behavior that can adapt to these different needs may become possible in the future.

Mara: In my opinion, it makes little sense entrusting robots with the social /emotional supervision of children or the elderly. Instead, they could provide mechanical assistance in patient care, for example. I am thinking of mobile platforms that could transport bed linens or even a robotic exoskeleton that could be worn by caregivers to support their backs when lifting. The robot could save staff time and relieve their physical burden. It would not be a rival, but – ideally – a likeable tool.

Mara: In the future, more and more people who are not robot experts will have encounters with robots. For this reason, the technology needs to be optimized, for example with regard to the fluency of communication. Currently, this is often still sluggish, which can lead to uncertainties in interaction. It is not always clear whether the robot has already completely executed a task or whether it is still waiting for input. We know from tests that humans tend to terminate the cooperation quickly in such cases. Robots must therefore become faster and their states and targets must become easier to understand.

Mara: I would like to have a window-cleaning robot (laughs). All joking aside, I often test various prototypes, but am still waiting for the ultimate solution.