Ask an Expert: Robot Edition

This past week, I received three very good questions about robots, which I will not answer expertly.

Courtney wrote:

Dear Expert Joel:

What are your thoughts on Rosie, the robot maid on "The Jetsons?" Is she an accurate representation of the robots of the future?

Thanks for the question, Courtney. The short answer is no. Rosie, looks like a microwave. Robots in the future will look like ipods. They will be designed by Steve Jobs and will come in six different colors so that everyone can have a robot that expresses his or her individuality.

Kelley wrote:

Mr. Expert,

Which child-robot was more annoying: Haley Joel Osment as "David" in A.I., or "Chip" from Not Quite Human??

Wow. This one really had me stumped. I initially went for HJO, but then I thought about it some more and started leaning towards "Chip". In the end, I went for Haley Joel Osment, though it was close (In HJO's defense, he does a mean blank stare face, as seen in The Sixth Sense, A.I., Forest Gump, and Pay It Forward). Aside from the aforementioned blank stare -- which has brought him fame and notoriety -- and his rad middle name, this kid is mildly irritating. He is even worse as a robot.

[side rant] In The Sixth Sense, how does Bruce Willis not realize he's (Spoiler Alert!) dead? Nobody talks to him except this little kid! What, does he think his wife is mad at him for getting shot? "Why aren't you talking to me, honey?" "Oh, I don't know, Bruce. Maybe it's because you got shot, you insensitive jerk!" Does he not notice that he has no clients except the blank stare kid? Seriously. I liked the movie, but come on! [/side rant]

Lisa (and company) wrote:

Was Mia correct in thinking that Robert really was an alien in disguise and could at any moment unzip his outerwear? I mean honestly can any "human" impersonate a robot that well?

This question refers to the first video in this post. Thanks for the question. The dangerous thing about robots is that sometimes they are very difficult to distinguish from humans. For instance, there is widespread speculation that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a robot similar to the one he played in the Terminator franchise. Others suspect that Joe Biden is a robot, but is keeping things quiet in order not to upstage Obama's "first-African-American-president" thing with his "first-non-human-vice-president" publicity. There may be robots all around us. In fact, it is possible that I am a robot (please spread this rumor!)

The other possibility is that Robert really is just a talented human. Is it harder for a human to act like a robot, or for a robot to act like a human? Answer: I know from personal experience that it's harder for a robot to act like a human (please spread this rumor!).

Well, that's it for this edition of "Ask an Expert."  In the coming days I'll make a post to accept new questions!  Leave your comments below!