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When Robots Run

By Adam Frank
Published June 2, 2015 at 4:19 AM CDT

They are coming. It's just a matter of time — and the time is likely shorter than most of us imagine.

I'm talking about robots.

Maybe they won't be fully artificial intelligences, as in machines with a self (and a silicon soul?). But they will move among us with enough grace and acuity to pose no threat (unless, of course, they are military robots). Achieving that standard — a key milestone for robots truly "living" in society — requires technological breakthroughs happening right now in laboratories around the world.

And it is to that point that I offer the video above.

Kind of scary. Kind of amazing. Either way, you need to get ready.

The robots are coming.

Adam Frank is a co-founder of the 13.7 blog, an astrophysics professor at the University of Rochester, a book author and a self-described "evangelist of science." You can keep up with more of what Adam is thinking on Facebook and Twitter: @adamfrank4.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Science & Technology
Adam Frank
Adam Frank was a contributor to the NPR blog 13.7: Cosmos & Culture. A professor at the University of Rochester, Frank is a theoretical/computational astrophysicist and currently heads a research group developing supercomputer code to study the formation and death of stars. Frank's research has also explored the evolution of newly born planets and the structure of clouds in the interstellar medium. Recently, he has begun work in the fields of astrobiology and network theory/data science. Frank also holds a joint appointment at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, a Department of Energy fusion lab.
See stories by Adam Frank