For developers of artificial intelligence, the goal does not get much more grandiose than successfully creating a machine capable of feeling "real emotion". And according to Moscow-based Professor Alexei Samsonovich, Russia is on the verge of doing just that. Samsonovich recently announced that he expects a breakthrough in the next several years which will see the rise of "free thinking" machines capable of understanding human emotions, as well as feeling their own emotions. The human brain is devastatingly complex and machines are currently not capable of expressing what we would consider to be "human emotion". The announcement hints at robots ultimately being able to understand narratives of thinking, as well as being developed enough to foster their own narratives.

Some experts in the field of artificial intelligence and robotics believe that we will reach artificial general intelligence (ANI) and artificial super intelligence (ASI) by the middle of this century. That is both an exciting and terrifying prospect, because it could see the "invention" of, technically, new lifeforms. Artificial general intelligence defines machine intelligence which is indistinguishable from humans in that it can experience complex thoughts, and even emotions, in much the same way that humans do. It also means that unlike artificial narrow intelligence (ANI), a robot could be capable of performing a huge number of different tasks (where ANI can perform limited tasks, such as becoming an expert at chess). When machines are intelligent enough to reprogram themselves to learn and grow, it's quite likely that we will eventually task them with building robots of their own.

About 35% of UK jobs will be automated by robots over the course of the next 20 years, a study suggests. With low-wage jobs being the first to go, those who work jobs that require repetitive actions will find their work automated by machines. But it's unlikely to stop there, and in this article we look at five office-based roles that have a high (95%) chance of being automated. The job of the humble telesales executive may be at risk of being completed replaced or, heavily augmented by the use of computers, depending on how quickly artificial intelligence develops. If a robot could sufficiently enchant a potential customer in the same way a person can, companies will call time on their human employees over night.

UK bank, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced it will be rolling out an artificial intelligence programme called "Luvo" to support its human staff. Using artificial intelligence is not a new idea in financial services, with intelligent financial instruments being used to manage money on a daily basis, but Luvo is different in that it has been given a "human" personality. The idea behind this decision is to make the AI seem more personable, friendly and warm. At present, it is being used to help support human employees but the bank hopes to roll out the tech so that customers can interact with it directly. It is currently being used to answer basic queries like "my customer has lost their bank card, what steps do I need to take now?", which is rather banal, but as the tech develops it is likely to offer more in the future.