Sex robots will soon be able to say'no' to unwanted advances from humans. Dr Sergi Santos, the Spanish inventor of sexbot Samantha, claims he's working on a version of his AI doll that can enter'dummy' mode in certain situations. For instance, 'dummy' mode may be switched on if sensors under Samantha's skin detect that she is being touched in an aggressive or disrespectful way. The robot will also enter into the unresponsive mode if she is bored with the attentions of her potential lover. Sexbot Samantha (pictured) will enter into a'dummy' mode if the sensors under her skin detect she is being touched in an aggressive or disrespectful way Samantha demonstrated her ability to say'no' to overly aggressive sexual partners during a recent presentation held at the Life Science Centre in Newcastle.

They were once seen as a bizarre fetish, but it seems that sex dolls are now so widely in demand that they could be going into mass production. Samantha, an eerily realistic sex bot, is currently on sale in London, but could soon be available for the masses. The robot's designer claims that he is looking to mass produce the head for Samantha in Wales in a bid to keep up with growing demands. They were once seen as a bizarre fetish, but it seems that sex dolls are now so widely in demand that they could be going into mass production. 'Silicon Samantha' is covered in sensors that respond to human touch and can switch between'family' and'sexy' mode.

Low birth rates and higher life expectancies mean that those over 65 years old now will account for 28.7 % of Europe's population by 2080, according to Eurostat, the EU's statistics arm. It means the age-dependency ratio – the proportion of the elderly compared with the number of workers – will almost double from 28.8 % in 2015 to 51 % in 2080, straining healthcare systems and national budgets. Yet there's hope marching over the horizon, in the form of robots. The creators of one humanoid robot under development for the elderly say it can understand people's actions and learn new behaviours in response, even though it is devoid of arms. Robots can be programmed to understand an elderly person's preferences and habits to detect changes in behaviour: for example if a yoga devotee misses a class, it will ask why, while if an elderly person falls it will automatically alert caregivers or emergency services.