For most people living through the latest pandemic, the urgent questions are often "when questions." When indoor establishments should lift capacity limits. When mask requirements should be dropped. When family, friends, and strangers should reconnect across household lines. For millions of other people, the question is more like whether. Whether there ever will be an opening. Whether they will be welcome participants. Whether the reengineered social relationships for post-pandemic life will include them. Because when the physical world is utterly open, the social world can be closed to these people.

Robots are increasingly becoming more important. Not only are they being used in areas such as medicine, agriculture and manufacturing, they are now also capable of driving cars and piloting drones. However, their increasing use and expanding capabilities have significant implications. On 21 April Parliament's legal affairs committee held a hearing to discuss with experts the issues involved, such as safety, liability and risk management. More and more appliances are now able to operate interactively and autonomously to some extent.