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Noel Sharkey

Jim Al-Khalili talks to Noel Sharkey about psychology and robots; and why he thinks artificial intelligence is a dangerous dream.

Robots probably won't take over the world, but they probably will be given ever greater responsibility. Already, robots care for the elderly in Japan, and drones have dropped bombs on Afghanistan. Professor Noel Sharkey fell in love with artificial intelligence in the 1980s, celebrated when he programmed his first robot to move in a straight line down the corridor and , for many years, judged robot wars on TV. Now, he thinks AI is a dangerous dream. Jim al-Khalili hears how Noel left school at 15 to become an electrician's apprentice and amateur rock musician before graduating as a Doctor of Psychology and world authority on robots, studying both their strengths and their limitations.

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27 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Mon 15 Apr 201318:32GMT
  • Tue 16 Apr 201301:32GMT
  • Tue 16 Apr 201308:32GMT
  • Sat 20 Apr 201309:32GMT
  • Sun 21 Apr 201323:32GMT

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