Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Technology thriller author, most recently of the book Kill Decision, Daniel Suarez has been thinking about drones for some time. But as he says, as he stands onstage at TEDGlobal 2013, he’s not here to talk fiction. “I’m here to talk about very real autonomous combat drones,” he says, adding that he doesn’t mean remotely piloted drones such as the Predator or Reaper, where a human being still makes combat decisions. Instead, he’s talking about “fully autonomous robotic weapons which make lethal decisions about people on their own.” The technical term for this, he explains, is “lethal autonomy,” and the fact that there’s a technical term for it should tell us this is something worth minding.

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

“As we migrate lethal decisionmaking from humans to software, we risk not only taking the humanity out of war but also changing our social landscape entirely,” says Suarez. “The way humans resolve conflict shapes our social landscape.” He spins through a quick history lesson of combat innovations, from the armor worn by a knight on horseback, to gunpowder and the cannon, to the nation-state, by which time leaders were forced both to rely on and share power with the people. Autonomous robotic weapons, he says, are just such a step forward. “But by requiring very few people to go to war, they risk re-centralizing power into very few hands, possibly reversing a five-century trend towards democracy.” Knowing this, we must take decisive steps to preserve our democratic institutions — and soon. Suarez details three powerful factors driving the ever-faster development of drones:

1. Visual Overload

In 2004, the U.S. drone fleet produced 71 hours of video surveillance for analysis. By 2011, that figure was 300,000 hours annually, and that number is only going to increase. Cameras such as the Gorgon Stare produce so much footage no human could possibly review it all. “That means we’ll have to program visual intelligence software to review it; and that means very soon drones will tell humans what to look at, not the other way around,” says Suarez. You can feel the weight of this thought sink in around the room.

2. Electronic Warfare

In 2011, GPS signal on a U.S. RQ-170 sentinel drone was confused by a “spoofing attack” and captured. Moving forward, drones will be programmed so that such interference cannot happen. “They will know their objective and they will react to circumstances without human guidance,” says Suarez. Drones won’t rely on outside influence, in other words, but will make their own decisions.

3. Plausible Deniability

In a world where cyber-espionage is not confined to science fiction, who knows who does what where, or who knocked off which company, when. “Sifting through the wreckage of a suicide drone attack, it’ll be very difficult to say who sent that weapon,” says Suarez soberly, to glum murmurs from the audience. “This raises the very real possibility of anonymous war. This could tilt the geopolitical balance on its head and make it very difficult for a nation to turn its firepower against an attacker. That could shift the balance away from defense and toward offense, making military action a viable option for not only small nations but for private enterprise, powerful individuals. It could create a landscape of rival warlords, undermining the rule of law and civil society.” Gulp.

Suarez isn’t done with the bad news for those living in the developed world. Not only do they have no advantage over those in developing nations, they might actually be at a disadvantage. Big data, he says, makes those of us living in the west vulnerable, perfect targets for autonomous weapons. Where a marketer might use data to send you personalized product samples or services, a repressive government could use it to eliminate political opposition. “Popular movements agitating for change could be detected early and their leaders eliminated before their ideas achieve critical mass,” says Suarez. You can hear that proverbial pin drop; the audience is both spellbound and open-mouthed.

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Now the call to action. “We need an international treaty on robotic weapons. In particular, a ban on the development and deployment of robotic weapons,” says Suarez, pointing out that treaties already exist for biological and nuclear weapons, and robotic weapons might well be just as dangerous as those. (Do also see the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, sponsored by former TED speaker, Jody Williams.) “We need an international legal framework for robotic weapons, and we need it before there is a devastating attack or incident which causes nations to rush to adopt weapons before thinking through the consequences.”

The danger is that drones “concentrate too much power in too few hands. They would imperil democracy itself,” he says. “No robot should have an expectation of privacy in a public place.” Instead, they should be stamped with an identifying marker in the factory. And an international treaty would help us to take advantage of any benefits from autonomous vehicles, while preserving civil society. “Let’s not succumb to the temptation of automated war,” he concludes. ”Let’s make sure killer robots remain fiction.”

Daniel Suarez TEDGlobal Talk has been posted. Watch it here »

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

“Athletic” is a term we use to describe human beings. But could it also be used to describe a machine?

In a demo recorded yesterday in his robot lab at TEDGlobal 2013, systems engineer Raffaello D’Andrea shows us that the answer is yes. He demonstrates with quadcopters, mechanically simple flying robots with four propellers.  Their design and small size makes them agile — able to zip and roll through the air — but they are fairly unstable, and need positioning feedback.

By understanding the physics of how the quadcopters move, D’Andrea and his team create mathematical models and synthesize them into algorithms, “the magic that brings this research to life.” As the small audience ooohhs and ahhhhs, D’Andrea shows how clever algorithms, coupled with bits of reflective material read by an indoor positioning system, allow a quadcopter to perform physically impressive feats, like balancing a long pole and — even a glass of water — as it flies. Even if the copter is made to wobble.

Next, D’Andrea poses a question: ”Can a machine perform with extreme physical damage?” Essentially, could a machine pull off a Kerri Strug?

To demonstrate, D’Andrea dramatically cuts four blades from the quadcopter’s propellers, leaving it only two working props. And yet it is still able to fly, remaining easily airborne by spinning like a top. An algorithm helps these bots handle damage by deciding which functions they can still control. And  like human athletes, quadcopters learn what works through practice. D’Andrea demonstrates by showing a drone in the process of learning to do a triple backflip. It attempts it blindly, notes where it ends up in space, and learns how to do it better next time. Repeat.

But can a quadcopter play ball? Certainly. D’Andrea demonstrates how a quadcopter can learn to hit a ball using a small racquet attached to its body . Similarly, three quadcopters can work together, holding the corners of a skynet (the term causing a few flinches in the room) to toss a ball through a quick, coordinated upward motion. The group can throw the ball — and catch it. Meanwhile another quad with a GoPro attached at bottom films them from above.

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

They know about teamwork. But could a quadcopter work with a human coach? D’Andrea uses a Kinect game controller to command two copters, both of them moving backward and forward in space as if tethered to his arms. With a flick of his wrists, both do backflips. Finally, he shows how  a tweaked algorithm can fool the machines’ understanding of physics, showing a drone that thinks it’s in a viscous liquid, and juggling three drones who believe they’re under the gravity conditions of Pluto .

“What impact will this new breed of machines, these machine athletes, have on our way of life?” asks D’Andrea, as he wraps up his talk. “Like all our past creations and innovations, they can be used to improve the human condition, or they can be misused and abused … Let’s make the right choice.”

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Raffaello D’Andrea’s TED Talk has been posted. Watch it here »

Author Daniel Suarez says his book about drones is a “cautionary tale.” He’ll explain what that means at TEDGlobal 2013.

Daniel Suarez is a former systems consultant turned novelist who will speak in session two at TEDGlobal 2013. Officially subtitled “Those Flying Things,” this is unofficially known as the drone session, and it will feature various speakers tackling the topic of unmanned aerial vehicles. For his part, Suarez will expound on some of the themes he examines in his most recent book, Kill Decision, a fictional romp through a world in which swarms of autonomous drones sink ships and systematically hunt and kill people. Here’s the most horrifying thing of all: it all sounds entirely plausible. 

Wanting to find out just how scared we need to be, we gave him Suarez a call. An edited version of our conversation follows.

So first things first. What’s up with Kill Decision? It’s terrifying!

It’s a cautionary tale! I want to get people to pay attention. I don’t want to scare them. Honestly. I look at what I do as looking over the horizon to spot icebergs. It’s not that I don’t like technology — after all, I spent 20 years as a systems analyst. But it’s all in the way we implement it. This was to suggest something of a course correction.

It all sounds terribly realistic, including detailed descriptions of drones and systems which do really exist in the world already. What’s your research process for a book like this?

Typically I’ll start with a subject that interests me, so with Kill Decision that was lethal autonomy. I’ll read about the state of the science in the field, so I read two dozen books on various things including swarming intelligence, robotics, military policy, quadrennial reviews of the Pentagon, and so on. I want to know: what’s the collective thinking, what’s the reality, and then what’s just over the horizon. I wanted to focus on robotic weapons that were possible, and after reading a lot about swarming intelligence I became fascinated with robotics and different forms of intelligence in the biological world. We might have the largest brain, but there are other creatures and strategies that are more effective in certain circumstances. If you put the brain of a weaver ant into a robot with weapons, and you make many of them, simulating their society algorithmically seems very possible. And because it’s possible, I want people to be aware of it. To be clear, I emphatically don’t want us to do it! But that’s a great rule for fiction. I get to spin scenarios and ask “what if,” and hopefully people learn new things and get to share my excitement in the research.

Many of the characters in your book are academics, deeply immersed in the world of research. Yet their work is co-opted by people who want to harness that insight for deeply selfish and entirely nefarious means. Should we worry more about the connection between academia and business or policy?

It really is up to society to decide how that goes. A scientist pursues science. Society has to ingest it and figure out what to do with it. In my view an open exchange of views is better than “you should never look into this.” I’m not into that. If you keep things hidden, that doesn’t stop things from happening. Open science helps to protect us more than secrecy ever would.

But you can’t put the autonomous killing machine genie back in the bottle, can you? How can you ensure that the bad guys don’t win?

There is a long list of technologies that should have rightly annihilated us, but we’ve created a society that’s more advanced than ever. That’s what gives me optimism. We’ve created international treaties for things like biological and nuclear weapons. It’s not perfect, but those are world-destroying weapons and the reason the world has not been destroyed is that humans in the main don’t want to destroy the world. That’s why you distribute power. Democracy is such a great thing, as ugly as it can be at times. So we have to come to a consensus about what to do with this new technology and drag it to the to public square for a big public debate. Yes, drones are not going away. Biological weapons and nukes are still here too — and so are we. I’m hopeful that as long as we take the time to understand the issues and have honest debate we will be able to incorporate unarmed autonomous vehicles into our daily lives without having robotic weapons flying around the place.

Are you going to scare everyone silly at TEDGlobal?

I don’t want to be all doom and gloom, I promise! I’m excited to be there in general and I’m eager to hear everything everyone else has to say on this topic.

Photo: SGVN/Staff. Photo by Walt Mancini/ROSE

Romo takes a bow on the TED2013 stage. Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Childhood pals Keller Rinaudo, Phu Nguyen and Peter Seid had a simple motivation for creating the smartphone toy robot Romo. As Rinaudo told CNET, it was because most personal robots on the market are simply “sucky.”

Keller Rinaudo: A mini robot -- powered by your phoneRinaudo, Nguyen and Seid — who founded the company Romotive — set out to build a personal robot that harnesses the powerful processor available in every smartphone. They aimed to make their bot highly programmable. And they wanted it to have a lot of personality.

“We think if you’re going to have a robot in your home, that robot should be a manifestation of your imagination,” says Rinaudo in yesterday’s talk, filmed at TED2013. “We don’t know where the future of robots will go. But what we do know that it isn’t 10 years or $10  billion away … The future of personal robotics is happening today.”

So how does Romo work? Your iPhone docks into a robotic base that looks a bit like a white and blue tank. When you download the Romo app, the bot springs to life, giving you facial expressions and responding to your movements. Romo can be driven, and thus can perform simple tasks for you. He can even be a roaming photographer or videographer.

Romo starts shipping in June. Meanwhile, online ads for the bot proclaim, “I’m Romo the Robot, your pet and friend.” Naturally, this reminds us of a few prior inventions that also attempted to blur these lines.

Here, a look…

Giga Pets
Often credited as the “first virtual pet,” Giga Pets were released in 1997 by Tiger Toys. While the 2-bit graphic keychain critters seem quaint now, they were much-loved at the time for their ability to tell their owners when they were hungry. (Yes, they grew with proper care.) Above, a vintage commercial.

The Furby
For anyone who scoured toystores and braved unthinkable lines during the holiday season of 1998 — in hopes of getting their hands on a Furby  – the concept of an electronic pet will sound familiar. The owl-like robotic toys started out speaking “Furbish.” But over time – with human interaction – they learned bits of English and developed personalities. According to Wikipedia, more than 40 million were sold in their first three years on the market. Hasbro revived Furbies in 2012 – this time with an app that allows people to translate Furbish as well as feed the little guys.

AIBO
A year after the Furby, Businessweek ran an article about a new offering from Sony – the robotic puppy AIBO. The article opened, “Toshi T. Doi, Sony Corp.’s leading computer engineer, is obsessed with robots. His small, third-floor lab is a breeding ground for robotic pups taking their first wobbly steps, chasing balls, and barking for attention. ‘We’re getting ready for the age of digital creatures,’ says Doi.” These cute pups, which cost more than $2000, lasted through 2005.

i-Cybie
AIBO inspired many a robotic dog—the cutest of which was i-Cybie, from Silverlit Toys. I-Cybie could respond to voice commands, a la “wag your tail,” and exhibited what seemed like real emotions. The adorable metal dog could even pick itself up if it fell down. Read this New York Times piece on how this virtual pet arrived in the U.S.

PARO
PARO, the “healing robotic seal,” comes to life when you say his name. Thanks to tactile sensors, writes Mashable, he responds to petting and coos excitedly when you rub his forehead. Why was he designed? Japanese company AIST explains on their website that he was created to provide the benefits of animal therapy – reduced stress, emotional stimulation – to people in hospitals and other environments where a real-life pet wouldn’t be allowed. He’s been covered in The New York Times … and tested by Barack Obama.

Pleo
Who wouldn’t want a miniature dinosaur? In the TED Talk “Caleb Chung plays with Pleo,” the famed toy designer introduces us to Pleo, a robotic dinosaur that acts like a pet. Pleo is curious about the world around it and explores, plays and even learns. The bot responds to touch and, of course, cuddles. Reborn in 2010 as Pleo rb, these bots now have born-in personality traits — think courage and obedience — and go through a four-stage life cycle.

Here, some staff picks of smart, funny, bizarre and cool stuff on the interwebs this week. First, happy (late) World Poetry Day! Celebrate the occasion with 8 talks from spoken-word poets.

Vijay Kumar: Robots that fly ... and cooperate
Just when you thought Vijay Kumar’s robots that fly and cooperate were creepy enough, he and his team have developed a drone that can pick up objects at high speed using a bird-like claw. [The Verge]

A piece by Ed Yong takes an in-depth look at new findings on the mechanics of swarming, a phenomenon that has baffled scientists. Awesome quote: “Cannibalism, not cooperation, was aligning the swarm.” [Wired]

Beautiful photos from Christo’s “Big Air Package” — which is being called the “largest indoor sculpture in history” — being installed at the Gasometer Oberhausen, due to premiere in December 2013. [This is colossal]

Ed Boyden: A light switch for neurons
Congrats to Ed Boyden, who was named one of the winners of the 2013 Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Prize earlier this week for his work on optogenetics. Watch Boyden’s 2011 talk, about using fiber-optic implants to control specific neurons in the brain. [MIT news]

What is it like growing up in a futurist household? Veronique Greenwood’s mother, a technology consultant, was touting the rise of mobile social networking years before the iPhone had come out and before Facebook had a “Like” button; she had pens printed with the slogan “Remember when we could only hear each other?” a decade before Skype. [Aeon magazine]

Stewart Brand: The dawn of de-extinction. Are you ready?

More Ed Yong? Yes. Yong takes a look at the pros and cons of de-extinction (a big topic in these parts after Stewart Brand’s TED2013 talk). [National Geographic]

Congratulations to TED Fellow Durreen Shahnaz, whose company, Impact Investment Exchange, has been nominated for the Rockefeller Foundation Centennial Innovation Award.

Timo Arnall’s thoughtful critique of the growing trend to encourage “invisible” interaction design. [Elastic space]

Jehane Noujaim wishes for a global day of film

More congrats are in order, to 2006 TED Prize winner Jehane Noujaim, who just completed a Kickstarter to raise money for postproduction on her Sundance Award-winning documentary The Square. [Kickstarter] Read more about The Square.

A father overhears his son talking about coming out of the closet to his mother and him, then leaves him this note. [Twitter] More details from Gawker.

A cute hello from the Axosoft TED Live event from TED2013. Watch for some tasty-looking carrots. [YouTube]

Sherry Turkle: Connected, but alone?In this episode — the third in season two — Sherry Turkle explores whether the fact that technology allows us more points of communication actually makes us all feel more alone. Cynthia Breazeal predicts the rise of personal robots. Andrew McAfee imagines the future of work as droids take our jobs. And Abraham Verghese wonders if human touch may not be the best medical tool.

Check out your local NPR schedule to find out when the show airs today, or listen to it via NPR’s website »

Or head to iTunes, where the podcast is available now »

Dance, tiny robots, dance! The best moments, in GIFS

Just now, session 1 of TED2013 ended, but not without first introducing the TED audience to a whole mess of neat robot inventions — from a robot butler to a smartphone pet that makes the Tamagotchi seem ancient.

One of the highlights was this clip from Bruno Maisonnier’s TEDxConcorde talk, during which he had his tiny humanoid robots — called Nao — do a synchronized dance routine even the coolest b-boys would envy. Here, we GIF the best moments from the tiny Naos breaking it down on stage. See more dancing robots »

Coffee. Hacking. Indonesia: 5 TEDx Talks on Java

When you hear the word “java,” you might think of the pesky window that pops up on your computer desktop every few months, begging you to close all browser windows so you can install vital security updates. Or maybe you think of your morning coffee, expertly brewed by your favorite neighborhood barista. Or maybe you see an image even more lovely — the lush greens of Indonesia’s third largest island.

Whatever it is you’re thinking of — we’ve got a talk for you. So pour your cup of joe, save all tabs, and take a break from your vacation planning to watch these 5 TEDx talks in honor of the word java. Watch the playlist »

The world comes together for TED2013: TEDxLive events around the globe

At the end of February, TED2013 went live far beyond the city limits of Long Beach, California. In 60 countries worldwide — excited TED’xers became TEDsters for a day (or night!) — experiencing “The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered.” in the heart of their communities: inside theaters, schools, local haunts, and cultural centers. These were TEDxLive events — TEDx events centered around a live simulcast of TED2013 in Long Beach.

In Sidney, British Columbia, Canadian TEDx’ers gathered together to watch day three of TED2013 in a local secondary school for the TEDxSaanichPeninsulaLive event. Organizer Sherry Moir said a moving moment of the day came after 16-year-old Jack Andraka spoke about the new method of detecting pancreatic cancer that he developed when he was only 15. Once he finished speaking, Sherry overheard one of the school’s students say, “He might have saved my dad if he’d only done this at age 12!” Read the full story here »

TEDx Intern Picks: 5 favorites for February

It’s that time again — time for another TEDx intern playlist. Today, one of our screening interns provides a glimpse into the vast variety of ideas circling the TEDx community — ideas that confront, surprise, and astound — even when you watch dozens of talks daily. Watch the playlist »

Sometimes, it feels like your smartphone is your friend. But if Keller Rinaudo has his way, your phone may be more like a pet.

Rinaudo, the co-founder and CEO of Romotive, has created Romo, a smartphone robot. Your phone docks into a robotic base that looks a bit like a powdery blue tank. When you download the Romo app, the bot comes to life. He can smile at you and jumps back if you make a sudden movement. He can be driven, and he’ll snap photos and stream video. He’s affordable (about $150) and highly programmable. But more than that, Romo is intended to be a companion with a personality.

“We think if you’re going to have a robot in your home, that robot should be a manifestation of your imagination,” says Rinaudo. “We don’t know where the future of robots will go. But what we do know that it isn’t 10 years or $10  billion away … The future of personal robotics is happening today.”

Here, see photos of Rinaudo demoing Romo on the TED stage. And below, a video of what Romo can do.

Keller Rinaudo’s TED Talk has been posted. Watch it here»

We’ve heard a lot about robots at TED over the years. Demos of amazing specialized robots … talk about what robots can and can’t do … and will they take jobs from humans and is that a good or a bad thing? What’s missing is a concrete example of a multi-purpose robot that can indeed do many tasks. Well, it’s time to meet a general robot that can possibly be that.

Rodney Brooks is a roboticist who invented the Roomba. Now he heads Rethink Robotics, whose mission is to apply advanced robotic intelligence to manufacturing and physical labor.

He begins with the often-repeated observation that demographic changes are happening quite quickly. For him, in light of that, the question isn’t, “Are robots coming too fast?” but rather, “Are we getting robots soon enough?”  Invoking Amara’s Law, ”We overestimate tech in the short term and underestimate in the long term”; he points out that we have no idea where robotics will take us. For example, in 1957 librarians were worried about losing their jobs to computers, but that didn’t happen for many, many years. On the other hand, at the time they had no idea the changes that were to come.

So, there are amazing robots now — robots that work in war zones and hospitals. For example, in hospitals, there are robots that move laundry around and free up nurses to do medicine. Or take spreadsheets. One of the amazing things about them is that they treated an ordinary worker as capable of programming, freeing them from basic calculation.

Brooks says in the past factory robots awee viewed differently. Ordinary people can’t interact with them, they take advanced mathematics to set up and use, they’re dangerous around humans. And that is partly why they are feared.

And with that, Rodney Brooks introduces us to Baxter. This is a robot that is designed to be easy to work with. It has common-sense rules and design elements that make it feel natural. For example, it has eyes that look ahead to where the robot is about to move, so humans know what it’s going to do. It also has rules to ensure it doesn’t hurt its operator — when its arm is grabbed, it goes into “zero-force mode.” On top of that, it’s easy to program.

That brings Brooks back to the question of whether this will take away jobs. They interviewed a number of workers. Interestingly, he says: “One of the questions we asked was: Do you want your children to work in a factory? The universal answer was no, I want a better job for my children.” The hope is that these tools, like Baxter, will elevate factory workers, and free them from repetitive tasks.

Brooks comes back to demographics. Current trends will change our world in profound ways. The percentage of adults that are working age is dropping dramatically. That means that there will be more people competing for services. But more than that, the caregivers themselves are getting older and older. For Brooks, robotics can help this tremendously. A robot that can assist elderly people gives those people a chance to have dignity by having control, so they don’t have to rely on people.

So, rather than being fearful, Brooks thinks, “We will all come to rely on robots over the next 40 yrs as part of our daily lives.”

In session 1 of TED2013, we are meeting many new robots. First, we watched the amazing clip above of a troupe of tiny humanoid Nao robots dancing intricate choreography in unison. (They were presented by Bruno Maisonnier of Aldebaran Robotics at TEDxConcorde and beamed straight to the TED stage.) Next, Rodney Brooks unveiled Baxter, the human–like bot who can do mundane tasks for you. And finally, Keller Rinaudo introduced us to Romo, the smartphone robot, an affordable device that makes a cell phone into a pet.

Nearly every year at TED, we get a peek at the incredible advances going on in the fields of robotics. Below, the best robots from TED events past in reverse chronological order.

Vijay Kumar: Robots that fly ... and cooperateVijay Kumar: Robots that fly … and cooperate The Event: TED2012 The Robots: Autonomous agile aerial robots What they do: These tiny, 8-inch flying quadrotors know where they are without GPS, and their small size makes them able to turn, circle and flip — extremely quickly. But these bots can also work together. Forming teams, they can transport cargo, build things, assess damage after disasters — even map radiation and leaks in unsafe areas. See them in action: Watch them flip at 3:46. Watch one navigate obstacles at 7:17. And fast-forward to 10:05 to see a choreographed swarm.

A robot that flies like a birdA robot that flies like a bird The Event: TEDGlobal 2011 The Robot: SmartBird What it does: Modeled after a seagull, this robot is light and aerodynamic. And it flies by flapping its wings, allowing engineers to study what we can learn from bird motion. See it in action: Watch it start flapping and take off at 2:08, taking several flying loops around the TEDGlobal theater.

Péter Fankhauser: Meet Rezero, the dancing ballbotPeter Fankhauser: Meet Rezero, the dancing ballbot The Event: TEDGlobal 2011 The Robot: Rezero What it does: This robot can dance. Technically a ballbot, he balances on a single, large ball rather than on multiple wheels — which allows for ballet-like movement. These robots could be used in a hospital to carry equipment, or could even be a form of transportation. See it in action: See Rezero’s balance checked at 1:48. And watch him full-out dance and pirouette at 3:57.

Cynthia Breazeal: The rise of personal robotsCynthia Breazeal: The rise of personal robots The Event: TEDWomen 2010 The Robots: Kismet, Leo and Autumn What they do: Meet the world’s first social robots, able to learn from us, listen to us and even teach us how they interact. The cutest robot around, furry Leo reacts to social cues as he is presented with an unfamiliar object – much like a child, he looks to people to learn how he should react. Autumn is a diet and exercise coach who can motivate you to set healthy goals. These social robots can be used to get kids away from screens and playing physically – as the characters go back and forth between the screen and the real world. See them in action: Watch Kismet listening to one of Breazeal’s teammates at 1:31. See Leo learn in real time at 2:34. Get a glimpse of Autumn at 8:44. And at 11:33, watch the playful robots move between realities.

Heather Knight: Silicon-based comedyHeather Knight: Silicon-based comedy The Event: TEDWomen2010 The Robot: Data What it does: This robot has jokes — and lots of them. Using a database of humor, Data creates stand-up routines on the fly. It learns from laughter and applause, figuring out what is working and what isn’t — and tailors its humor based on the reaction. See it in action: Get ready to laugh at 3:30.

David Hanson: Robots that "show emotion"David Hanson: Robots that “show emotion” The Event: TED2009 The Robot: Einstein What it does:  This robot has empathy. Rather than bleeping, a la R2-D2, Hanson’s robots have faces — made of Frubber — making them look and act as if they were human. These robots show emotions and react to the expressions of others with facial gestures of their own. See it in action: See Einstein brought back to life at 2:10.

PW Singer on military robots and the future of warPW Singer on military robots and the future of wars The Event: TED2009 The Robots: PackBot, robotic tanks, drones What they do: These robots go to war zones and perform tasks that are too dangerous for humans. Singer begins his talk with the story of PackBot, a robot who went to Iraq to investigate IEDs and lost his life in a blast. In this prescient talk from early 2009, Singer predicts we may see tens of thousands of robots both fighting wars and keeping peace alongside living soldiers. See them in action: At 3:45, see images of the robots currently in use in war zones.

Hod Lipson builds "self-aware" robotsHod Lipson builds “self-aware” robots The Event: TED2007 The Robots: Self-aware robots What they do: These robots evolve. Hod Lipson applied natural selection to robots – rewarding those that succeeded in moving forward, and denying those that did not. As a result, they’ve gradually become more advanced. Some of these models do not know their shape, initially, but learn how to move through processes of elimination. They use programmed “self-models” to understand a unique, unprogrammed way to move. See them in action: Watch a robot learn how to move at 3:57. And at 5:23, watch robots whose form of reward is self-replication — it grows as it absorbs other robots.

Rodney Brooks says robots will invade our livesRodney Brooks says robots will invade our lives The Event: TED2003 The Robots: Roomba, PackBot and Kismet What they do: Roomba, the vacuum cleaner ‘bot, easily navigates around objects and learns where to clean as it goes. More complex is PackBot, also described above, which catalogues local information and has the ability to communicate from areas too dangerous to search for survivors. Also, get another demonstration of Kismet’s ability to react and communicate. See them in action: At 2:51, see a demonstration of Roomba at work. Watch 5:00, for PackBot. And cut to 11:02 for Kismet’s response to social cues. And: Rodney Brooks is bringing his newest robot, Baxter, to TED2013.

Dean Kamen on inventing and givingDean Kamen on inventing and giving The Event: TED2002 The Robot: The Segway What it does: These robots help you get around, without expending energy, relying on gas or requiring a parking spot. The idea: efficiency in a motorized platform that is the size of a person. See it in action: Watch it all. Kamen gives his entire talk aboard a Segway.

Stay tuned to the TED Blog for beat-by-beat coverage of TED2013.

Note: This post originally ran as a pre-TED2013 piece. It was updated on February 26, to reflect three new robots appearing on the TED stage in Session 1, “Progress Enigma.”