Transcript

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NARRATOR

At around 2020, robots were already very capable. Some were strong. Some were clever. And some were extremely precise. But as powerful as they were, robots were sometimes awkward and didn't really know how to behave with humans in many situations, even the simplest.

That all changed when a group of European and Japanese researchers developed Caresses, a revolutionary artificial intelligence. When it was wired into robots, Caresses added a key feature. The robots learned to adapt to the culture and habits of the people they interacted with. And they never used stereotypes. The technical word for this is cultural competence. So it became easier for robots to be accepted by humans.

With cultural competence, Caresses started a new era in the history of robotics. Soon, robots began to support caregivers, assisting older people in a variety of tasks all over the world. This development was valuable to health systems in many countries and helped them better deal with the needs and preferences of an ageing population. Thanks to their experience in elder care, culturally competent robots also proved useful in education, transportation, and tourism.

If today's robots look much more at ease with humans, seem more perceptive, and ultimately more helpful in a wide range of situations, credit should be given to Caresses-- that little flower over robots' hearts. It didn't make the robot stronger or faster. But it showed how much you can achieve by teaching them to pay attention to people's culture.

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