BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts.

Hello, this is Beyond Today from BBC Radio 4.

With me, The Robot, a space to ask one big question about one big story every weekday.

Today, will human contact become a luxury?

Hi, I'm Sadden Jones, and I'm not a robot. I'm usually a producer, but I'm replacing Matthew

while he's on holiday in the Peak District. This is what I think about robots.

We designed them to be trusted with our homes,

with our way of life,

with our world. But did we design them to be trusted?

But I know I'm wrong because as technology advances we're going to

become more reliant on artificial intelligence. What I want to know is how our emotional relationship with robotics is changing.

Now that robots are being piloted in schools and care homes to teach kids and tackle loneliness,

we're starting to see them play a significant role in our lives.

Hello, Pepper.

Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello hello hello pepper

hello hello hello hello hello oh dear we can do this forever

oh no we could. Whether the robots of the future are delivering our packages or sleeping with us, it seems

somehow inevitable that they're coming.

But what's striking is that amongst the Silicon Valley elite

there's a growing movement that's turning away from technology.

And some experts say, as the rest of society becomes reliant on robots and AI,

only the rich will be able to afford the luxury of people, to educate, work, and care for. to Hello there. My name is Pepper and I am a humanoid robot. I actually met that robot at its home in Middlesex University.

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