Tech Tent: What future for humanoid robots?

Tech Tent: What future for humanoid robots?

t's the humanoid robot which has been SLOT the star of the tech circuit - but now Pepper's owners have paused production. On this week's Tech Tent, we explore whether we are falling out of love with robots that look like us.

It is not surprising that Pepper, with its cute face and pleasant voice, became a star. The robot, created by the French company Aldebaran, which became the robotics division of Japan's SoftBank in 2012, seemed to be everywhere.

I met it (there was always a temptation to call Pepper "her") at CES in Las Vegas, at the Innorobo show in Paris and at the Cheltenham Science Festival where we shared the stage in a discussion about artificial intelligence,

Pepper even appeared in front of a House of Commons select committee to "give evidence" about the impact of AI on education. And it was this rather embarrassing event that summed up the growing unease many felt about the robot. Pepper had been programmed to make a simple statement rather than answer MPs' questions, demonstrating the limits of its robotic intelligence.

This week SoftBank confirmed to the BBC that it has "paused" the production of new Peppers, which had been marketed as everything from museum guides, to office receptionists and cheerleaders at sports events. The Japanese company which, according to Reuters, has laid off half the staff at its French robotics division, would only say that production would resume when it was needed.

Kerstin Dautenhahn, professor of intelligent robotics at Canada's University of Waterloo, tells Tech Tent that she has worked with Pepper and quite likes it: "It's a very social robot, it can speak, it can dance, it can do certain tricks."

But she has serious questions about its purpose: "The use of that robot is quite limited because other than dancing and looking impressive, what can it actually do? "