Humanoid robots help hospitals schedule nurses and Navy select decoys ZDNet

NAO is an endearing, interactive robot companion that can be personalized and used for lots of different tasks. The idea is to customize the bot, and it's been a big hit, with over 7000 sold. We are often reassured that even though robots are automating many jobs, humans possess emotional intelligence and unique decision-making skills that can't be replicated. But new research proves that robots can actually be quite good at making tough choices, even when many factors complicate the matter. A team of researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab developed a technique called "apprenticeship scheduling" to enable robots to help with scheduling in various workplaces.