Trust Me, I'm a Robot

In all the Singularity-based angst over whether robots are going to take over, few have considered the human qualities that might allow our silicon cousins to prevail. Specifically, will robots dupe us into doing something dumb or dangerous because we trust them too much? PCMag discussed this recently with robotics expert Dr. Ayanna Howard after her keynote at the first IEEE Multi-Robot Systems (MRS) conference. Howard spent 12 years at NASA JPL as a Senior Robotics Researcher but is now the founder and CTO of Zyrobotics, which creates advanced technology to assist children living with disabilities. Here are edited and condensed excerpts from our conversation.