(ambient music)
- If there's one thing that popular culture
has gotten right, it's that pretty soon most of us
will have relationships with robots.
In fact, you probably already have
some basic relationship with machines.
When I say relationships,
you might think of romantic relationships.
But the hype around sex robots is just that, hype.
That's not gonna be a thing for a while.
And anyway, most relationships aren't sexy,
but they're still important.
And robots may very well be a part
of the most important relationships in your life.
(beeping)
(ambient music)
(thudding)
Welcome to Uprising,
a new original series from Freethink.
Fear not, robots are already here.
(light-hearted music)
- Hey Buddy!
We first met with Buddy,
the interaction was completely different.
There was that emotional things,
the cute eyes and the fact that touching him
and you have a reaction and connection.
As you probably noticed, I'm not saying "it," I'm saying "him."
Okay, Buddy,
and it surprised me a lot. Even if it's a robot,
it's only circuits and motors.
there is that connection.
Sometimes he's sad, sometimes he's happy,
sometimes he will come to see you
and just dance just near you.
(beeping)
He has his own life, so it's quite interesting.
- Yes, tell me more.
(beeping)
- Buddy, is an emotional robot,
being developed by Blue Frog Robotics in Paris.
He's meant to be a companion bot, a member of the family.
- People really see Buddy like a character.
It's not just an artificial intelligence like Amazon Echo,
able to answer to all your questions.
It's not the key point,
for us the key point is to simulate life.
(intense music)
The idea is to have robot able to provide useful services,
all of the day, for each member of the family.
Buddy can secure your home, you can connect to the robot
and see. It can also play with children.
It can play hide-and-seek or red light, green light.
(intense music)
- A robot that you could have near you,
who will help you in your busy day-to-day life,
just to put the light on, the music on.
And still I think that emotional connection
and keeping people happy around you as well.
- Buddy is an emotional robot in that he expresses emotions.
He can look sad or angry or scared, but he's just a robot.
He doesn't really feel anything.
So it would be easy to say these are fake emotions.
But that's oversimplifying things too.
(intense music)
- If I put my finger in your eyes,
it won't be very nice for you.
(chuckling)
And it's the same thing with the robot, he feels something,
he will react and we do the same.
So, maybe we're also a big computer also.
I don't know where is the difference... the real difference.
- But even if we assume that Buddy's emotions aren't real,
our emotions are,
and that's all it takes for a relationship to be real.
- If you ask people to drop Buddy from the table,
they'll say, "I won't do that, I will hurt him."
"Him," not "it," you know?
- So the emotional part is for sure
something that you bring.
After a year of interaction now, I see Buddy like a teenager
a part of my family, or my cycle of friends.
But growing up and able to have
more and more ability in the future.
- Right now Buddy is still in beta testing,
but once he's ready for consumers, he won't just be a toy.
One of his most important roles,
will be helping us take care of our elders.
(clacking)
In many countries, people are starting to live longer,
and have fewer children.
That means there's a greater demand for elder care
and fewer young people to provide it.
(sentimental music)
A robot like Buddy, can help fill that gap.
- Buddy can be seen like a nice and cute gadget,
but for elders' needs, there is a real
added value to a robot like Buddy.
And if you have a robot like Buddy,
you can stay at home longer in good conditions.
He can monitor the activity
to be sure that everything is okay.
He can entertain them and just to be a presence for them.
- You take the control of Buddy, you go in the kitchen,
"How are you today?"
And as you see them, it's enough to see
if everything is fine.
So it's important I think for old people
to have such support.
- Over the last few 100 years,
society's structure has changed dramatically.
What was once focused on the family unit,
is now focused on the individual.
More people move far away from their parents.
Robots like Buddy, can help us reconnect our communities,
help us support older people, as they age
and remain in their home.
The relationships we have with machines,
are only going to ger more common and more complex.
Especially as they allow us to expand and rediscover
our relationships, with other humans.
(orchestral music)
(intense bursting orchestral music)
- Why do cows have bells?
(creaking)
Because their horns don't work.
- Thanks for watching this episode of Uprising.
Please like and subscribe.
It really helps us grow our channel and tell more stories
about people who are thinking differently
and changing the world.