Erica, the humanoid robot, is chatty but still has a lot to learn

Jefferson Graham visits the Kyoto, Japan Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories to meet Erica, a lifelike humanoid. KYOTO, Japan --Erica greets me, asks my name and how I'm enjoying my trip to Japan. She nods her head as I speak and her eyes wander as if she's going to work the room, but she seems only to be listening to me. This eerie humanoid just happens to be a "conversational" robot companion. And the conversation only goes so far: She's reciting from a digital file that has been placed inside her as I read into a microphone from a script of questions researchers have given me to prompt her.