Yet despite this, roboticists have started to teach their own creations to say no to human orders.

 

They have programmed a pair of diminutive¹ humanoid robots called Shafer and Dempster to disobey instructions from humans if it puts their own safety at risk.

 

The results are more like the apologetic robot rebel Sonny from the film I, Robot, starring Will Smith, than the homicidal machines of Terminator, but they demonstrate an important principal.

 

Engineers Gordon Briggs and Dr Matthais Scheutz from Tufts University in Massachusetts, are trying to create robots that can interact in a more human way.

 

The robots they have created follow verbal instructions such as 'stand up' and 'sit down' from a human operator.

 

However, when they are asked to walk into an obstacle or off the end of a table, for example, the robots politely decline to do so.

 

When asked to walk forward on a table, the robots refuse to budge², telling their creator: 'Sorry, I cannot do this as there is no support ahead.'

 

Upon a second command to walk forward, the robot replies: 'But, it is unsafe.'

 

Perhaps rather touchingly³, when the human then tells the robot that they will catch it if it reaches the end of the table, the robot trustingly agrees and walks forward.

 

Similarly when it is told an obstacle in front of them is not solid, the robot obligingly walks through it.

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