At Aizo Chuo Hospital in Japan, employees greet newcomers, guide patients to and from the surgery area, and print out maps of the hospital for confused visitors. They don’t take lunch breaks or even get paid. Why? They’re robots!
A robot is a machine that can complete complex tasks without human control. The child-sized machines at the hospital are just a few of the thousands of robots that help people around the world.
Robots have long worked in factories, helping to build cars and electronic appliances1. But today’s robots are a far cry2 from the clunky machines of the past. They don’t just do the jobs of people—they actually look and act a lot like people.

Robo-People
Kansei, a robot from Japan, has a silicon face covering 19 movable parts. The robot can form up to 36 facial expressions in response to different words. Kansei quivers3  in fear at the word war and breaks into a smile when it hears the word sushi.
Researchers in Europe are going one step further with iCub, a “baby” robot. They are teaching it to speak and hold conversations.
The ability to interact is crucial4, or necessary, for robots that will one day work closely with humans, says Chris Atkeson, a professor at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania. “It is important for robots and all machines that interact with people to understand what you say and how you are feeling and respond with appropriate emotions,” he told WR News.
Japanese scientist Minoru Asada agrees. He is building a robot called CB2 that acts like a real toddler5. “Right now, it only goes, ‘Ah, ah.’But as we develop its learning function, we hope it can start saying more complex sentences and moving on its own will,”Asada says. “Next-generation robots need to be able to learn and develop themselves.”

Helping Humans
Robot communication will allow the machines to help people more in the future, as the number of human workers declines in some countries.“We are going to have so many more old people and not enough young people to take care of them,” Matthew Mason, director of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, told WR News.“Technology can help the old people live at home longer, instead of going to nursing homes6.”
That would be a big help in Japan, which has an aging population. Already, more than 370,000 robots work in Japanese factories. Other robots perform tasks such as planting rice and tending the country’s rice paddies7. Japanese officials estimate that one robot can do the work of 10 human employees.
Aizo Chuo Hospital patient Hiroshi Asami, 81, isn’t thrilled8 about the prospect, or possibility, of robot workers.“The robot just told us to get out of the way!” he exclaims9 after almost running into10 one of the hospital’s robot workers.“It’s a robot. It’s the one that should get out of my way. I prefer dealing with real people.”

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在日本的Aizo Chuo醫(yī)院，雇員問候新來者，把患者引領(lǐng)至門診處或離開那里，為困惑的來訪者打印醫(yī)院的地圖。他們沒有午間休息，甚至沒有報(bào)酬。何故？他們是機(jī)器人！
機(jī)器人是一種能夠在無人操控的情況下完成復(fù)雜任務(wù)的機(jī)器。醫(yī)院里這些與兒童身材一般大小的機(jī)器只是世界各地成千上萬幫助人類的機(jī)器人中的少許幾個(gè)。
機(jī)器人長久以來在工廠工作，幫助制造汽車和電子設(shè)備。但如今的機(jī)器人同過去笨重的機(jī)器相比已有天壤之別。它們不僅能做人的工作——實(shí)際上它們?cè)谌菝埠托袨樯弦才c人類相似。

機(jī)器人類
來自日本的機(jī)器人Kansei有一張硅制成的臉，下面覆蓋著19個(gè)可移動(dòng)部件。它能做出多達(dá)36種面部表情來回應(yīng)不同的詞語。當(dāng)聽到“戰(zhàn)爭”這個(gè)詞語時(shí)Kansei會(huì)恐懼得發(fā)抖，而當(dāng)它聽到“壽司”這個(gè)詞時(shí)則會(huì)發(fā)出微笑。
歐洲的研究人員走得更遠(yuǎn)，他們正在教一個(gè)名為iCub的“嬰兒”機(jī)器人說話并與人交談。
賓夕法尼亞州卡耐基·梅隆大學(xué)的機(jī)器人學(xué)研究所的克里斯·阿特克森教授說，對(duì)那些未來將要與人密切合作的機(jī)器人來說，溝通能力至關(guān)重要�！笆鼓切┡c人溝通的機(jī)器人和所有機(jī)器明白你說的話和你的感受并做出適當(dāng)?shù)那楦蟹磻?yīng)，這點(diǎn)很重要，”他對(duì)《讀者周刊》新聞欄目說。
日本科學(xué)家麻田實(shí)對(duì)此表示贊同。他正在制作一個(gè)叫CB2的機(jī)器人，其行為有如一個(gè)真實(shí)的蹣跚學(xué)步的幼童�！把巯滤�只會(huì)說，‘啊，啊’。但隨著我們開發(fā)它的學(xué)習(xí)功能，我們希望它能開始說更復(fù)雜的句子，并按自己的意志行走，”麻田實(shí)說，“下一代的機(jī)器人需要有學(xué)習(xí)和自我發(fā)展的能力�！�

幫助人類
機(jī)器人的溝通能力使它們能夠在將來對(duì)人類有更大的幫助，因?yàn)樵谝恍﹪�家工作人口的�?shù)量在下降�！拔覀兊睦夏耆丝趯⒋罅吭黾�，而照顧他們的年輕人卻不夠了，” 卡耐基·梅隆大學(xué)的機(jī)器人學(xué)研究所主任馬修·梅森對(duì)《讀者周刊》新聞欄目說，“科技能幫助老年人在家里生活更長的時(shí)間，而不是去養(yǎng)老院�！�
對(duì)人口老齡化的日本來說，這是一個(gè)巨大的幫助。已經(jīng)有37萬多個(gè)機(jī)器人在日本的工廠工作。其他一些機(jī)器人執(zhí)行著諸如種植水稻和進(jìn)行田間管理的任務(wù)。日本官員估計(jì)一個(gè)機(jī)器人可以完成10個(gè)人類雇員的工作。
Aizo Chuo醫(yī)院的81歲患者麻美博對(duì)機(jī)器工人的前景或可能性并不感到興奮�！皺C(jī)器人只是命令我們走開！”他在差點(diǎn)撞上醫(yī)院的一個(gè)機(jī)器工人后驚呼，“那是個(gè)機(jī)器人。應(yīng)該走開的是它。我更喜歡與真人打交道�！�

1. appliance [?藜?謖plai?藜ns] n. 器具，設(shè)備
2. a far cry (from) 遙遠(yuǎn)的距離
3. quiver [?謖kwiv?藜] v. 顫抖，發(fā)抖
4. crucial [?謖kru?蘼?蘩i?藜l] adj. 至關(guān)重要的，決定性的
5. toddler [?謖t?蘅dl?藜] n. 學(xué)步的小孩
6. nursing home 養(yǎng)老院，療養(yǎng)院
7. paddy [?謖p?覸di] n. 水稻田
8. thrilled [?夼rild] adj. 興奮的，激動(dòng)的
9. exclaim [iks?謖kleim] v. 驚叫，呼喊
10. run into 撞上，遭遇
11. rock [r?蘅k] v. （口語）用于表示強(qiáng)烈贊許
12. rev up 使加速；激發(fā)
13. quacky [kw?覸ki] adj. 發(fā)出嘎嘎聲的
14. paddle [?謖p?覸dl] v. 劃水，涉水

15. trumpet [?謖tr?蘧mpit] n. 小號(hào)；喇叭
16. slipper [?謖slip?藜] n. 便鞋，拖鞋
17. vacuum [?謖v?覸kju?藜m] n. 真空吸塵器
18. rover [?謖r?藜uv?藜] n. 外星探測(cè)器
19. hardware [?謖h?藁?蘼dw?蘚?藜] 金屬器皿
20. quizzical adj. [?謖kwizikl] 古怪的