From cute droids to robots that stab you, it's time to get personal with machines

Alexander Reben has created cute cardboard robots that elicit random emotional confessions from passersby, and a bot called The First Law that can decide whether or not to prick an unsuspecting human finger. These are two examples at the opposite ends of the spectrum of what artificial intelligence can one day bring to humanity - and for the artist, engineer and WIRED Innovation Fellow, they are important tools designed to spark debate about what that coexistence will look like. Take the First Law robot. It is named after the rules devised by sci-fi author Isaac Asimov, which state: "a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." But it is within our power to create a robot that does exactly the opposite.