Weak Robots
We expect robots to work for us,/performing a range of services.// They are our servants.// After all,/the word robot  comes from robota,/a Slavic word meaning “slave” or “servant.”// But is it possible for us/to form a more cooperative relationship with robots?//
　　When we think about robot technology,/we often think about autonomous robots/which can work independently of human beings.// Space probes which wander across the surface of Mars.// Delivery robots that drop packages right on our doorsteps.// Our vision of the future/is a vision of autonomous robots/driving our cars,/cleaning our houses,/cooking our meals.// They might be called “strong” robots,/in the sense that they can work without human help.//
　　While we wait for that future,/we make do with “weak” robots/like the cleaning robot that sweeps our floors.// The little guy is cute/but not very smart.// He’s always getting tangled up in electrical cords.// In order to help him clean the room/without getting into trouble,/you might start by picking up things/which could be in his way.//
　　The room gets cleaned up.// But when you ask:/“Who cleaned this room?”/you make an interesting discovery.// The little robot did not clean the room by itself.// You did not clean the room by yourself.// The two of you did it together.// The robot cleverly managed to get your cooperation/in cleaning the room.// What’s interesting about the little cleaning robot/is that, for all his weakness,/he has become part of your family.//

　　Many robot engineers/find dependence on humans to be a defect.// They want to make weak robots stronger,/which is to say,/more independent of people.//
　　However,/the little episode above suggests/that weak robots might help create a positive relationship/between robots and humans.// In fact,/Okada Michio,/a professor at Toyohashi University of Technology,/sees weakness as a virtue.// He is working on robots/which are designed not  to work without human interaction.//
　　Take a wastebasket called Sociable  Trash Box  (STB),/for example.// Its job is to see that trash gets picked up.// This weak robot approaches the trash/and circles around it helplessly,/waiting for someone’s assistance.// When people come along/and see the robot moving its body/as if asking for help,/they usually pick up the trash/and place it in the basket.// STB bows,/as if to say,/“Thanks!”//
　　In the conventional way of thinking,/a room cleaner that gets tangled up in a cord,/or a machine that cannot pick up the trash by itself,/is weak or maybe defective.// But from Okada’s point of view,/this weakness draws out our cooperative spirit.// Far from being dehumanizing,/working with a robot like STB/can make us more human.//

　　“OK,” you may say,/“but how about the human-AI interactions we already enjoy?// I can talk to my smartphone.// I ask her a question.// She answers.// We communicate.”// But is that really communication?// How often does your smartphone call you  up?//
　　Okada wants us/to think of a more intimate human-robot relationship.// Real communication/is not a matter of me  talking to you /and you  talking to me,/but rather a case of us /communicating with one another.// Is this sort of communication possible/between humans and robots?// Perhaps.//
　　Think of babies.// Babies cry for milk.// They show their satisfaction by becoming quiet.// Parents learn to listen to the way their baby cries/and watch their baby’s reactions.// Although no words are exchanged,/a real form of communication exists between them.//
　　Raising an infant involves interaction.// The baby is cared for/and gets the milk that it wants.// The parents experience joy/in looking after the child.// The baby’s helplessness and weakness/draw out the parents’ love and support.// Could this natural form of communication/also take place between humans and robots?// Okada is looking at how such a coexistence might occur.//
　　In order to explore this possibility,/Okada and his colleague made Mako-no-te,/a small one-armed robot which can walk.// When walking hand-in-hand,/the robot gives you cues,/adjusting the direction and speed/by pulling your hand with its arm.// You infer the robot’s intentions.// Apparently,/just walking with the robot/helps you build an interpersonal relationship with it.// A kind of natural form of communication/seems to be taking place/between the human and the robot.//

　　Okada’s concept of weak robots/is not just of theoretical interest;/it may have a practical implication.// One of the main concerns in present-day Japan/is the rapid growth of its aging population,/an increase which means more and more care workers are needed.// In reality,/however,/caregivers are in desperately short supply.// As part of the solution to the problem,/the government and private sectors/are introducing care robots in nursing homes.//
　　Here are a few examples of robots at work.// One is a back support device which is designed to assist caregivers/when they lift and move patients.// Another type of robot provides services/such as bringing tea.// These robots satisfy practical needs,/easing the burden of caregivers.//
　　But there are other types of robots/whose main function is to provide companionship/and make the environment more friendly and livable.// A robot baby seal is an example.// Not only does it give comfort to the elderly,/but it also gives a sense of security.// Perhaps it is in this area/that Okada’s weak robots have the greatest potential for application.//
　　Professor Okada and his team/want us to think of robots as our companions.// They are pointing the way to a future/in which people and robots can exist in harmony,/learn to treat one another with respect,/and, just possibly,/enjoy one another’s company.//