What our robots tell us about ourselves

London (CNN)My first encounter at "Robots," a new exhibition at the Science Museum in London, was with an animatronic baby. It is unquestionably life-like and perfectly baby-sized, safety-pinned into a crisp white nappy and hanging upright on a wall. Every detail -- the latex skin, the mat of baby black hair -- seemed as realistic as a Ron Mueck sculpture. The left arm rose slowly, the mouth half-open, the eyelids flickering into a squint. I studied it intensely, half expecting a response -- a cry, a gurgle -- but without any desire to rescue the baby from the wall and cradle it. Side on, it was unmistakably a machine.