Artificial general intelligence, or "AGI," the idea of a machine that can approach human levels of cognition, is a great topic to get people all worked up. Because no one can really define it, it serves as a Rorschach Test, onto which one can imprint whatever thoughts and feelings they care to. What is artificial general intelligence? Everything you need to know about the path to creating an AI as smart as a human. The result was a spirited discussion this past Friday night at John Jay College in Manhattan, site of the World Science Festival, now in its twelfth year.

Changing world: "As the first generation of self-driving cars and battlefield warbots filter into society, scientists are working to develop robots with moral decision-making skills." THE World Science Festival held in Brisbane in early March confirmed that robots, artificial intelligence and machine learning were now part of our lives. Thousands attending the festival came to watch, touch and play with cute, shiny robots capable of dodging objects, following commands and engaging in smart banter. However, if the future has arrived, now we have to deal with it. The World Science Festival was also an important forum as world experts discussed robot morality and ethics and what role we wanted robots to play in the future.

The World Science Festival Brisbane's'Shared Space Bots' performance demonstrations at Queensland University of Technology used pint-sized, futuristic floor robots to reveal research into the technologies that will allow humans to communicate with driverless cars, and allowed audience members a chance to'test drive' the systems safely. Shared Space Bots were demonstrated by internationally acclaimed technologist Christopher Lindinger from Austrian R&D company Ars Electronica Futurelab. They have been developed as part of the ongoing research cooperation between Mercedes-Benz and Ars Electronica Futurelab on the topic of future mobility.