Don’t Fear the Robot

You probably know my robot. I’ve been inventing autonomous machines for over 30 years and one of them, Roomba from iRobot, is quite popular. During my career, I’ve learned a lot about what makes robots valuable, and formed some strong opinions about what we can expect from them in the future. I can also tell you why, contrary to popular apocalyptic Hollywood images, robots won’t be taking over the world anytime soon. But that’s getting ahead of myself. Let me back up.

My love affair with robots began in the early 1980s when I joined the research staff at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. Physics was my college major but after a short time at the lab the potential of the developing technology seduced me. I became a roboticist.

Such an exhilarating place to work! A host of brilliant people were researching deep problems and fascinating algorithms. Amazingly clever mechanisms were being developed, and it was all converging in clever and capable mobile robots. The future seemed obvious. So, I made a bold prediction and told all my friends, “In three to five years, robots will be everywhere doing all sorts of jobs.”

But I was wrong.

Again and again in those early years, news stories teased: “Big Company X has demonstrated a prototype of Consumer Robot Y. X says Y will be available for sale next year.” But somehow next year didn’t arrive. Through the 1980s and 1990s, robots never managed to find their way out of the laboratory. This was distressing to a committed robot enthusiast. Why hadn’t all the journal papers, clever prototypes, and breathless news stories culminated in a robot I could buy in a store?

Let me answer with the story of the first consumer robot that did achieve marketplace stardom.