Episode 2 Six Robots & Us

NARRATOR: Robots...

We're on the verge of science fiction becoming reality.

ROBOT:

They look like us.

We trust them with our lives.

And they're starting to walk amongst us...

..carrying their robot brains out of the lab

and into the big, bad world.

But just how useful are they?

Not in some distant future, but right now.

Where can they make our lives easier?

And where do they still need work?

Oh, my God!

What the hell?

It could strangle me.

In a unique experiment...

Robot delivery.

..six ordinary British families...

Argh!

..all with specific needs...

..will welcome six very different robots into their homes.

-ROBOT:

-Hello, family!

-Take me to your leader.

-Please.

From trying to get them fit...

..to helping care for the sick.

Wow!

..enabling them to make sense of the world...

..and becoming indispensable in the workplace.

Thank you!

-But in the end...

-Grrr!

..will their families want to keep them...

Just a really exciting moment.

..or switch them off?

You're in my way.

Sorry, robot!

In a one-off experiment,

six robots have been sent to live with families around the UK.

I'm quite nervous whether it will like me.

Each robot has been programmed by a leading British university.

OK, let's see what we've got.

And observing them are psychologist Dr Caroline Jay

and robotics professor Jonathan Rossiter.

If you take the revolutions that we've had

from the Agricultural Revolution to the Industrial Revolution

to the IT revolution,

robots really are the next thing.

They're watching to see how the robots get on outside the lab

and if humans form lasting bonds with them.

We develop technology to help us.

As time goes on, we'll learn what it does well

and we'll learn how to work with it

so that we can ensure it always works for human benefits.

In Edinburgh, ShopBot is arriving for its first day at work.

He's just superb.

It's possessed!

400 miles south, in Suffolk,

Neil Bowles is weighing up whether to leave his wife Linda

home alone with assistance robot CareBot.

Take to Linda, that's her lunch.

-He is not able to physically help with caring.

-Absolutely not.

While on the South Coast,

the Rocket family are building up to their final weigh-in

under the watchful eye of FitBot.

-Hi, Ben.

-Hi.

-Good to meet you again.

-Very nice to see you.

But we start in Ruislip, in West London,

where the Docherty family has a delivery.

Ethan, Kaspar's here.

Four-year-old Ethan is autistic.

Ready?

Steady, go!

And he's about to meet a robot specially designed to help him.

-What's that?

-It's a robot.

Wooo...!

This is Kaspar, the social robot.

An interactive child-sized humanoid.

Operated by a remote control,

it's pre-programmed to speak, sing and perform simple movements.

Shall we do a peek-a-boo? Shall we say boo?

You say boo.

Boo!

LAUGHTER

Although Kaspar's come to play, this robot is not a toy,

but an aid to unlock social skills in autistic children.

-Say something else.

-KASPER:

-It tickles me.

-ETHAN:

-It's Thomas!

Ethan, like many children on the autistic spectrum,

struggles to understand the world or relate to others.

Sometimes, Ethan will engage with you when you play with him.

But other times, you tend to be a bit of a spectator,

especially when he's got his trains.

Ethan finds the comprehension of words difficult,

social interaction and two-way conversation difficult

and Ethan finds new experiences

very difficult to deal with and comprehend.

Oh, no, help me!

-There you go.

-No! That's not on!

Ethan's inability to communicate his feelings can lead to frustration

and managing his behaviour is a daily battle.

Oh, there's too many trains, isn't there?

ETHAN SCREAMS

-OK.

-Ethan...

Ethan's emotions can very much be like a rollercoaster.

You know, if he gets into a bad ride,

it can just carry on and carry on.

We have to be really careful and it's really difficult

that you don't lose your temper with him over the small stuff.

Ethan was diagnosed just over a year ago.

The first time they used the word autism,

it was a complete shock to us.

You definitely go to the extreme.

Does this mean Ethan's going to, from day one,

always going to be behind everyone else?

Ethan... We're just going to take Thomas and then...

ETHAN SCREAMS

Is my son going to be able to get a job?

Is he going to have a life and a relationship

with another human being?

Come on.

I want him to make a sad face.

A sad face? You want him to make a sad face?

You want to make him sad?

While Kaspar's expressionless appearance may be startling,

the simplicity of his face

makes it easier for children on the autistic spectrum

to practise everyday interaction.

Oh!

Human faces have 42 muscles,

generating a potential 16,000 different facial configurations.

A non-stop barrage of information

that can overwhelm an autistic child.

So you place this one. Come on, this one, the spoon.

You see this picture of the spoon?

Kaspar purposely forms only basic expressions,

simple sentences and rudimentary physical movements...

-Moving to the side.

-Hi, Kaspar.

..with the goal of giving users the time, space and repetition

to practise basic interaction.

Kaspar, do you like broccoli?

Let's see what he says. Let's listen to Kaspar.

He said broccoli was...

-I want disgusting.

-Yeah.

To help hammer these teachings home,

Ethan can choose Kaspar's expressions and reactions himself

using the keypad,

allowing him to control both sides of the interaction.

Wait, wait, which one do you want? Which one?

-Happy.

-Happy?

You press the happy face.

Happy face.

Yeah!

So this is really amazing.

It might seem that a robot

is not an obvious choice in this kind of situation,

where somebody's having difficulties communicating with humans.

On the other hand, if we look at it from the perspective

that, actually, it's the human communication that's the issue,

if we're able to step back from that and simplify things

in a way that Ethan can understand, that could really help.

Ethan gets to control what's going on

and he gets to programme something.

It's this whole new insight into how things actually work.

And it's not just about how robots work,

it is able to teach Ethan something about how people work, as well.

Do you want him to sing a song?

Yes.

Music.

Yes, music. You press this one.

This one as well.

KASPER: # If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands...

Can you clap your hands?

# If you're happy and you know it clap your hands

# If you're happy and you know it...

-Oh...

-Are you going to sit with Mummy?

It was too much for him. OK...

# With a quack, quack here and a quack, quack there

# Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack, quack... #

Ethan...

After a promising start,

Ethan makes it clear that, for now, he's had enough of Kaspar.

No!

# If you're happy and you know it and you really want to show it

Ethan...

# If you're happy and you know it... #

I can't do it.

Oh, no.

Shall we see if Kaspar wants some dinner?

No.

-Because then Kaspar needs to go to bed after that.

-No.

No?

I think Ethan's quite tired.

I think it's been a long day. So, erm...

Worst-case scenario is that Ethan gets bored with it

and there's no engagement.

Because if there's no engagement,

then he's not going to interact, he's not going to play with it.

-Shall we do some singing in a moment?

-No.

-Can we dance?

-No.

-Oh...

While some families are just beginning their experiment...

Launch exercise.

..others are five weeks in.

The Rocket family in Plymouth

have been trying to get fit and eat better...

Did you throw your tea towel at it?

..under the guidance of FitBot...

..a humanoid with speech, facial and emotional recognition.

And there's been a development.

Mum Jackie has changed her approach to feeding the family.

Because the FitBot was here,

so I was more aware that we'd have Big Brother watching us, as such,

it just made me more aware of everything, really.

She used to cook for, like, the whole neighbourhood, it would seem,

because she would cook so much.

Now she's just cooking for us, so it's just the right amount.

The biggest change

has been the number of sort of snacks that we did have in.

There's a lot fewer of those snacks in the house.

Less effective has been FitBot's ability to help dad Matt

and daughter Cat work out away from the house.

Can we do some exercise today, FitBot?

OK, can we do any exercise, then, FitBot?

No. She's all yellow.

Erm...

We might just have to do it without FitBot.

Because we know what you've got to do, don't you?

Yeah, we can still time ourselves. We're here.

We might as well do some exercise anyway.

Just because FitBot can't help us, we can still do our circuit.

All right, you ready?

Come on, then, nice and gently.

Inspired by the upcoming weigh-in,

Matt draws on FitBot's previous routines,

plus his own military experience.

Three, two, one...go!

You have to think on your feet,

because key to being a military fitness instructor...

What, are you ringing bells?

You look like you've got a couple of castanets in your hands.

If you're either making a circuit up or if you're doing a competition,

nine times out of ten,

you know there's a chance that something's going to go wrong.

That must be killing you, this.

One unexpected benefit

is the quality time spent with his daughter.

The times that I can spend with Cat are always very precious.

They grow so quickly and so fast

that it's very, very precious to try and get as much done as we can

and just do something together.

Come on, last few.

And stop there.

Soon, she's going to be 18, 19, her own lady,

and once she reaches late teens, she's going to disappear

and, you know, then that time I'm never going to get back.

HE LAUGHS

You're going to go flying!

Mwah!

But not everyone feels the same about finding out

if FitBot has impacted their lives for real.

I'm not looking forward to the weigh-in.

I'll make sure I take off my watch...

..and my earrings. Oh, no, I haven't got any.

Use serving tray.

There's a good boy, aren't you? You're a good boy.

He's a good boy. Yes, he is!

In Felixstowe, Linda and Neil Bowles have been sharing their home

with CareBot for three days.

You tend to talk to it like a pet, don't you, really? Or a child.

You get affectionate towards it, don't you?

Strange, isn't it? Attached to a machine...

How weird is that?

So CareBot's got more of a personality, actually,

than a lot of robots we've seen.

If you think about the relationship we have with our pets,

we often confer emotions on to them that may not really be there.

A similar thing happens with robots.

Even though we're aware, at some level,

that the robot isn't really a person,

when it behaves like a person,

we're willing to take that leap

and respond to it as if it's another sentient being.

CareBot may have won over the Bowles

with its conversational skills,

but it offers a number of other functions

as a robot for the disabled.

It can recognise and track human voices,

offer medication reminders

and potentially spot the signs leading up to an emergency.

Tell me a joke.

THEY LAUGH

His jokes are as bad as mine!

The Bowles agreed to trial CareBot,

as Linda suffers from MS.

For ten years, she's been confined to a wheelchair

and 100% dependent on husband Neil for all her care.

We love each other to pieces, we're a couple first and foremost.

But, yes, we can get down.

Yeah, I can get quite depressed and quite sad at times.

There's probably not a carer who doesn't from time to time.

But sometimes you try and make light of it,

even though you're feeling rotten inside.

If Neil gets time alone, he heads to his man cave,

situated in the garden a few metres from the house.

I try to use the gym, or my gym, about four times a week, if I can.

Not bad for an old boy!

But even just a stone's throw from Linda,

Neil worries something could happen to her.

She can have massive spasms which could three her off her chair.

She could have choking fits which, obviously, could be...

Well, they can be fatal, can't they?

We've got an internal phone system.

So I make sure Linda's got a phone near her

and I'll bring one of them down here,

so she can just give me a quick buzz if she needs me.

I rely on Neil for absolutely everything.

Every single need for every minute of every day.

Good morning, CareBot, nice to see you!

To relieve Neil of some of his workload,

CareBot has been programmed to issue a medication reminder

three times a day.

-Medication reminder for Linda?

-Oh, thank you, I've taken them.

-I thought you'd had your medication.

-Yes, thank you.

Wow!

He's just given Linda a reminder

to take the three types of medication

that she takes every morning.

Tell him I've taken them.

Morning medication taken, confirmed, thank you.

Neil is starting to trust CareBot.

CareBot, give me some news.

But to leave it in charge of Linda for any length of time

will require far more sophisticated functions.

Are you stupid?

This morning, CareBot's inventor, Dr Theo Theodoridis,

from the University of Salford,

wants to show them how his creation can assist them further.

-So I'm going to start it off now.

-OK. Let's go.

Limited to a tiny amount of movement in one arm,

Linda can only call for help if the phone is left within reach.

Call Neil.

But CareBot's voice-activated phone system is a welcome addition.

PHONE RINGS

-Fantastic.

-Pick it up. Pick it up.

Hello?

Yeah, that works. It's brilliant.

Look at that!

That's wonderful, isn't it?

That is an amazing safety feature.

I'm going to end the call now.

A perfectly good, clear mobile phone message from robot to my mobile.

That's impressed me.

Really has.

But Dr Theodoridis has something else up his sleeve.

Can you give the command to the robot, please?

Emergency monitor.

Neil sits in for Linda.

Using a pair of infrared sensors mounted in its eyes,

CareBot draws a wire frame outline around Neil,

noting the exact position of his body.

It's ready.

Now, if any dramatic changes occur, such as Linda having a muscle spasm,

CareBot should notice.

Now, if you try to slide to the front down...

A bit like me on a Saturday night after a few beers!

Now, you should be receiving a text message.

"Linda needs help."

Wow!

That was just amazing.

I mean that is one good safety feature, isn't it?

The question now is,

will Neil trust CareBot to look after Linda without him there?

It hasn't made any mistakes and that gives him confidence.

If it were to make one mistake, I wonder how attitudes would change.

Yeah. So if we had a situation where it gave out the wrong prescription,

that could cause real problems.

It may be that we don't trust robots,

because we aren't able to control them.

If we feel they're acting completely autonomously,

then that is potentially a good thing, if they get things right.

On the other hand, when something goes wrong,

if a person can't step in or hasn't seen what's happened,

that could be a potential disaster.

We need to wake Kaspar up in a minute.

-He's sleeping, isn't he?

-Come on!

Back in West London,

it's been 24 hours since communication robot Kaspar

arrived at the Docherty house.

He's still asleep. Do you want to wake him up?

-Yes, please.

-Yeah? OK.

After a difficult start,

mum Michelle has devised a cunning plan

to get her autistic son Ethan to give Kaspar a chance.

Hello!

We think the best thing is to humanise the robot,

so we decided to give Kaspar a bedroom, so we've used our study.

He's got his name on the door, we've given him kind of a bed

and, hopefully, that will keep him more engaged.

In fact, Kaspar's programmers recommend

that users are reminded that Kaspar is a robot

and encouraged to transfer whatever they learn from it back to humans.

Would you like a cup of tea?

Hm...

I don't know.

Do you want to have a look at what we're doing with Kaspar today?

Can you see? Can you tell me what you can see?

Like many children on the autistic spectrum,

Ethan responds well to a strict routine.

We need to look after Kaspar because he's sick and he's hungry, OK?

And Michelle's making Kaspar part of theirs.

Oh...

Oh! What did he do?

He did.

Is he sick?

Over the last year, she's developed a system

using pictures and timelines

to map out every element of Ethan's day.

-Would you like a medicine?

-Yeah.

I sometimes feel that Ethan is a bit of a robot.

He is more robotic than us.

There's a protocol for everything, there's a schedule for everything,

so we definitely need to have an itinerary

for any event or activity that we're doing,

which is lucky for him, because I love doing that kind of stuff.

Take the "Kaspar is sick" off,

because I don't think he's sick any more.

Having captured Ethan's interest...

Oh! Kaspar is hungry, Ethan.

..Michelle's planned the next game

to help Ethan master the thing he struggles with most,

the art of conversation.

Shall we ask Kaspar if he likes cookies?

Asks cookies.

So you say, "Kaspar, do you like cookies?"

Kaspar, do you like cookies?

Ooh!

-He likes cookies.

-He does.

Shall we try another food?

-Ask Kaspar if he likes it.

-Yucky!

No. We say, "Kaspar, do you like your food?"

Unlike humans, Kaspar is patient.

It's designed to give children, like Ethan,

the time to think about what they'd like to say.

Kaspar, do you like your food?

I don't think he does!

-He doesn't like that.

-Oh, no.

Through repetition, it should build up Ethan's confidence,

giving him social skills to take out into the real world.

-Why don't you ask him?

-Yucky!

Ask him whether he likes it.

Do you like it?

Oh, dear!

He doesn't like it!

Kaspar, do you like this?

Oh, he liked it!

So food is all...

Food is all finished.

I mean, that's like a proper therapy session,

he's had to work for that.

Michelle brought a really good structure to it.

I think that really worked.

Ethan asking him questions...

Because those are the sorts of things

that we've been trying to do with Ethan,

so he's obviously getting something out of the structure.

No, it was really good. That was really good.

I thought it was a good session.

Do you need any help putting Kaspar to bed?

Do you want to give him a cuddle and say goodnight?

-Aw!

-Oh.

-Come on.

Let's put Kaspar to bed.

Although Ethan's been able to practise asking Kaspar questions,

for Michelle, it's too much of a one-way interaction.

Night-night, Kaspar.

Kaspar needs to be able to respond with questions of his own

to simulate conversation.

We've kind of got five or six improvements that we want to make.

Ethan struggles with listening to a question and answering it

and that's what we really need to get him to focus on.

Michelle puts Kaspar away for good.

OK, say goodnight to Kaspar and we'll turn the lights off.

Good night.

He'll only come back out

if and when the university can make the changes

she wants to his programming.

Tell me a joke.

In Felixstowe, Linda and Neil Bowles

have been living with prototype assistant CareBot for over a week.

It's just like having a house guest here.

We're getting quite used to having him around.

Are you hungry?

So far, CareBot's specially programmed companion algorithm

is far outweighing its abilities as a physical assistant.

Take to Linda, that's her lunch.

-He's not able to physically help with caring.

-Absolutely not.

OK, we'll talk about solar power, then.

Linda doesn't want her sandwich.

You could direct him and I could say, "Take that to Linda."

little things like that could be really useful.

He's not going to bring it to you.

What a waste of time.

Shut up!

Despite CareBot's limitations,

Neil's ready to go to the next stage.

Dinner tonight, do you fancy some fresh fish?

-Oh, a nice wing of skate.

-A wing of skate?

-Oh, yes, please.

You're not getting any!

Today, Neil's decided to pick up a special dinner,

leaving Linda home alone.

I'll nip out down the shop soon.

-See you later. Love you.

-Love you, too.

-Bye!

-Be careful out there.

-Missing you already!

Yeah...

Normally, he'd ask a neighbour to keep an eye on her

and leave the phone to hand.

But today, CareBot is in charge.

Last time I had any kind of respite,

the council sent a professional carer into our home

and, for once, I didn't have to look at my watch.

I didn't have to have any worries at all,

because I knew Linda was being looked after

by a health care professional.

However, this funding stopped,

so I haven't had any time off whatsoever in three years.

Neil has gone out.

With Neil a mile away and counting, CareBot sounds the alarm.

Unable to connect to the Wi-Fi,

CareBot and Linda's connection to the outside world has evaporated.

Can you do anything for me?

It'd be a nice day to be out on this golf course today.

That would be lovely, to have about five hours...

Oh, heaven!

It's just something that...

..is not possible.

And that's it. You know, there's no way round it.

Neil's gone out and I can't even phone him if I need him.

We'll just park up in this little pay-and-display car park

and see how much they're going to rip us off for.

Oh, it's out of order, the machine.

Perhaps that means it's free parking today.

It makes you feel like you've just won the lottery

when you get free parking.

With Neil now miles away,

all Linda can do is wait patiently for the internet to come back on

and hope nothing goes wrong in the meantime.

Resume.

And here we are at my favourite fishmongers and they're closed!

Oh, no!

Never mind. Have something else for tea.

Try again, resume.

Resume.

I'm getting quite angry with you now, actually.

I'm home, honey!

-Hello.

-Hiya, darling.

-Hiya, robot. Have you looked after her?

-No.

Within ten seconds of you going out, the internet went down,

so I couldn't have called you if I'd needed you, anyway.

And I'm actually losing my voice shouting at it.

No, it's ridiculous, really, isn't it?

If you've got to depend on the internet

to be able to use an emergency phone call system.

But basically, then, that's given us no sense of safety at all.

You don't feel any safer. I don't feel any...

I felt less safe because, if I hadn't have had him,

I would have had a phone.

Yeah.

Well, that was a great disappointment.

With modern systems, we rely so much on the internet

for basic services and even, in this case,

for the operation of a care robot.

And when that connection to the internet goes down,

the whole system fails.

So CareBot did not have a fail-safe.

I confirm.

Grrrr...!

That's it.

In West London, the Dohertys have called a halt on the experiment

with their robot Kaspar

until he's been reprogrammed to have a two-way conversation.

-Hi, Ben.

-Hi, Michelle.

Come through.

Mum Michelle has kept Kaspar and her autistic son Ethan apart

until senior researcher Dr Ben Robins completes the update.

OK, I have developed the new games, the animal games.

Brilliant.

We're limited in what Kaspar can do at the moment.

I think we really saw the potential on that first day

and we just thought, if we could customise it

to do whatever we needed it to do for Ethan specifically,

then it would be an amazing tool.

I think Kaspar's woken up, Ethan.

You want to come and play?

Oh...!

We are excited to see the requests in Kaspar today

being actually used with Ethan.

So, yeah, really excited.

No-one knows if Kaspar's new programming

will have an effect on Ethan.

Michelle's asked Dr Robins to create new games,

so Kaspar can ask questions instead of just answering them.

Well done, Ethan!

Good boy!

-He's bad! Bad!

-Ethan...

Dr Robins has also allocated

a button on the keypad to Ethan's name,

to keep his attention.

Ethan, come back.

But Ethan's lost interest.

Ethan?

One food for Mummy, please.

You want to try and pick one out, April?

Shall we see if Kaspar likes orange?

Ah, gentle, please.

That's it, give it to Kaspar.

April...

Let April give it.

APRIL SCREAMS

April, let go, let go.

Thank you.

Ethan, that's not very nice.

After all Michelle's efforts, it's a disappointing session.

Ethan...

Ethan did what I expected him to,

which was, you know, not really listen.

That's the same issue that we have with other kids his own age,

he's not stopping and listening,

he's just doing whatever he wants to do.

So I think that's going to be a massive learning curve for Ethan.

Michelle has grasped the limitations

and the opportunities that Kaspar gives.

But Kaspar is a very limited device.

He's there as a tool for Michelle.

So it could be that she is really crucial

to getting this situation to work.

In somebody else's hands, would Kaspar be as effective?

Robots haven't been developed only for people with specific needs.

Our sixth and final robot...

Oh, it's so cute!

..has been designed to help with something much more everyday.

Shopping!

Oh, my God!

Go on.

ShopBot is based on a robot called Pepper,

but has been customised by Heriot-Watt University

for a very particular task - customer service.

The robot can identify individual humans,

but as it will be dealing with hundreds of people,

rather than just a few,

facial recognition technology hasn't been implemented.

Instead, Heriot-Watt have used

cutting-edge machine learning techniques

to develop a sophisticated chatbot

designed to win over and engage customers.

I do need a hug.

Thank you.

And it's safe to physically interact with,

thanks to nylon tendons in its fingers

and rubber pulleys in its arms that stretch,

to avoid crushing objects it comes into contact with.

Welcome to Margiotta's.

ShopBot's been invited by sisters Elena and Luisa,

the youngest generation in a family supermarket business.

They now employ 150 people across six sites

and are always looking for ways to get the edge over their rivals.

I just think if maybe we could move things around a bit

to make it look a bit more full.

Looks perfect.

We are the largest independent retailer in Scotland,

so we try hard, because it is competitive out there.

We have to adapt to survive in this retail climate,

but I think the customers of Edinburgh appreciate that.

There's still independent businesses out there

fighting against the larger chains

and the only way we can survive is to be different.

We thought a robot is a great addition to show the customers

that we're always wanting to do something new and exciting.

In commercial environments, floor space is really important

and that's the most valuable commodity they've got.

The proof of the pudding for a robot like ShopBot

is whether it can earn its keep.

For the next week, ShopBot will be trialled as an assistant

in the Margiotta's flagship store.

And to make it feel like part of the family,

they've decided to give it a nickname.

We decided to call it Fabio because we thought, we're an Italian family,

so we'd give it an Italian name.

Fabio, hi!

Dad Franco has built the business from scratch over the last 30 years.

My goodness, look at you!

For his daughters, this is a chance to drag him into the 21st century.

Modern technology, you're not very good with that.

No.

I'm...not great with it.

I'd like you to take me around the shop.

Can you show me?

Fabio has been programmed with an inventory of hundreds of products

and will be tasked with directing customers to them.

I'm having a steak and chips.

Good.

But if it's to perform successfully,

its speech recognition technology needs to be foolproof.

HE CHUCKLES

You're very funny.

Before Fabio gets to work,

it has a meet and greet with its new colleagues.

Hello, Fabio, how are you?

-FABIO:

-Hi.

It's so much more lifelike than I thought it would be.

I was, like, worried that it would be, you know, just a machine,

but it actually looks like a robot.

High five.

Don't leave me hanging.

I'm not!

Wonderful.

A bit bizarre.

I never thought I'd see a wee robot kicking about in a shop,

let alone our shop.

Fabio's friendly chat seems to have won over the staff,

but there is one concern...

It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks

to see if it is going to have any benefits.

But we don't want it taking jobs away from actual workers.

Come on, Ethan.

We've got a special surprise downstairs.

A special surprise! Come on.

In West London,

Kaspar is halfway into its five-week stay with the Docherty family

and there's been a development.

Ethan, what's that?

That's my picture.

That is your picture, well done!

Look, April, it's Ethan's fish, can you see?

For the first time ever,

four-year-old Ethan came home from school

and communicated with mum Michelle about his day.

We picked Ethan up from school and I said,

"What did you do at school today?"

He said to us, "I drew a picture of a fish on a piece of paper".

Thinking that Ethan had just done what he normally does,

which is just says anything that comes to his mind,

rather than what he's actually done.

And then, when we got home,

pulled out of his school bag a picture of a coloured-in fish,

which was amazing.

Because, obviously, it was exactly what he'd said he'd done.

It was like it was made of gold.

I mean, it really is like a...

I'm going to try not to cry...

Erm...

Just a really exciting moment.

Sorry.

The two-way conversations with Kaspar

may be having an effect

and helping Ethan communicate and share information.

I suppose that it gives you hope.

Sorry...

I think, for us, it just gives you those moments of...

..what everyone else gets and takes for granted.

I think it's just that.

Really special.

This is the real breakthrough.

Ethan hasn't done this before

and he's been able to communicate with her

in a way that he has typically found really difficult.

What's remarkable about this is that we are seeing a real result,

with a real child, with a real robot,

and that's heart-warming.

But it's also valuable, incredibly valuable for research.

The breakthrough spurs Michelle on

to tackle another of Ethan's social sticking points...

Yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy...

Family meal times.

Leave it there and go and sit at your chair, ready for lunch,

and then we can play.

Dinner time, it's generally Ethan wants the iPad.

So I was kind of thinking it might be a good way

of getting him off the iPad.

Ethan, you want cucumber?

Ethan loves his food, but he likes to zone out when he's eating,

and the iPad is a good out for us.

You're Happy And You Know It.

You'd like to do a song? OK.

Good choice!

# If you're happy and you know it, say I am

-ALL:

-I am!

# If you're happy and you know it, say I am

-ALL:

-I am!

Whose turn is it next?

Thank you.

# If you're happy and you know it, arms up high

Arms up high!

# If you're happy and you know it, arms up high... #

Arms up high!

The interaction has changed over the last few weeks.

Ethan is controlling Kaspar,

and that gives him a totally new way of interacting with the family.

So he's learning the rules through programming the robot,

and that's helping him transfer those to interaction with people.

There's no iPad, but with Kaspar to distract him,

no tantrums from Ethan, either.

-ALL:

-Arms up high!

He's definitely very, very happy at the moment.

-ETHAN:

-High!

And loud.

And him being in a happy place, he's very open to learning.

Arms up high!

Arms up high!

Yeah!

Over the next days, Ethan's development continues.

Do you like it?

-KASPAR:

-Oh, that's really disgusting.

ETHAN LAUGHS

He begins to form a bond with Kaspar.

-KASPAR:

-Well done, you found it.

And he's also learning to share.

Touch his toes, April.

OK, I'm going to get the FitBot.

In Plymouth, it's time for the Rockets to say goodbye to FitBot.

There we go!

But not before dad Matt and mum Jackie have a final weigh-in

to see if six weeks' fitness and nutrition instruction

has impacted their waistlines.

Six weeks ago, Matt weighed in at 100 kilograms.

95...

Matt has lost a respectable five kilos.

Six weeks ago, Jackie weighed in at 80 kilograms.

Oh, yes!

78.5!

Jackie has lost weight, too,

if slightly less than Matt.

-Farewell.

-Bye, FitBot.

Bye, FitBot.

FitBot has pushed me more going out and doing more exercise classes.

I'm really happy that, you know,

I've managed to lose weight along the way.

He's helped me more than anybody, having FitBot here.

I definitely feel better for being back in training.

The feeling of the endorphins being released in your body,

the buzz that you feel after you've done any sort of training,

it's nice to have that feeling back again.

OK, Bot.

I think it's so funny.

Where's it going?

After two weeks together,

Neil and Linda Bowles are preparing to say goodbye to CareBot.

Do you think we ought to give him a little power pack

as a pack-up lunch?

HE LAUGHS

When he's worked, he's been fun.

The only frustrations were when he didn't work,

because we wanted to do as much as possible with him,

so we could give feedback to his robot master,

as he refers to Theo, the scientist.

It's been good company,

but many of CareBot's prototype physical functions

were held up by slow internet in the Bowles' home.

Hey, Theo, my friend!

Something that has frustrated its inventor Dr Theo Theodoridis.

Theo's here to take away robot, oh!

We had a few problems with the internet.

Sometimes it couldn't hear what you're saying.

-can you lift it yourself?

-Yeah.

This experiment was not 100% a representation

of what we have and what we can do.

-Goodbye, CareBot.

-I'll look after you.

It would be better if he had the localisation feature

where Neil or Linda could direct the robot

to deliver goods from one place to another.

I've missed the robot! I want to see my robot!

Three weeks later,

the Bowles get an invite to visit CareBot in the lab

at the University of Salford.

-Are you looking forward to seeing him?

-I am.

He's had operations, plastic surgery...

Dr Theodoridis has worked around the clock

to build in the robot's ability to accurately locate

the different regions and objects in his laboratory.

Localisation is useful

because Neil can send the robot from the kitchen

with a warm plate of food to Linda, who might be around the living room.

-Here we go.

-Lovely.

-Hey, good to see you.

-Hi, how are you doing?

Good to see you.

Can you get through there?

-Oh!

-Hey, CareBot.

Hello, CareBot!

Hello, my friend, it's good to see you.

-He hasn't lost any of the sarcasm! OK, let's experiment.

-Have fun.

OK, thanks. See you in a while. Thank you.

CareBot ready!

Fantastic.

Until now, neither CareBot's grabber or mapping worked.

Dr Theo Theodoridis leaves a sceptical Linda and Neil

to ask CareBot for help.

Anything during the day that Linda could get the robot to do

without asking me is a success.

Can you deliver something with your manipulator?

Thank you! Look, I've got the TV remote!

I'm never allowed that!

Yay!

But what the Bowles really wanted

was CareBot to courier items around the house.

What I'm going to do is I'm going to put the kettle on

and get him to bring you a cup of tea.

-OK.

-OK.

We've got English breakfast tea or fragrant and spicy chai.

Oh, don't! English breakfast.

Use your serving tray.

I want you to use your serving tray, please.

Yes, he's done it!

Hey!

Thank you.

Go to the bed, please.

Wow!

-Good man!

-After being so disobedient...

Software called simultaneous localisation and mapping, or Slam,

allows CareBot to generate a log of every object and obstacle in a room,

so it can navigate to, from and around them.

Linda is waiting for her tea.

Not only is it now working, but CareBot can multitask...

Wonderful. Do you like tea?

Of all of CareBot's functions,

this would have made the most impact on Neil and Linda's lives.

So if this was at home, and Theo had programmed robot to our house,

obviously I could make her a cup of tea in the kitchen,

and then tell it to go, presuming you're sitting at the dining table,

I can tell robot to go to the dining table and get your tea.

CareBot is a prototype.

It's finally working, but it still has a long way to go.

If I did live another 20 years,

I think robots will have come on in leaps and bounds

and be doing things that today I can't possibly imagine.

Thank you for bringing me my tea, CareBot.

I don't think it's going to come soon enough to help me.

Unfortunately.

But people coming up behind me,

they've got a tremendously maybe exciting future in front of them,

even if they're disabled.

He's lovely, isn't he? I've missed him.

I want to take him home now.

That's the end, Neil.

It's a bit sad.

Hello, Fabio.

He's not responding!

In Edinburgh, it's Fabio's first day on the shop floor.

I wondered if you could show me where the red wine is.

I came into the shop purely because I saw that there is a robot

and I was intrigued.

Fabio's been put to work helping customers

locate products in the store.

Hello. Can you tell me where the milk is, please?

Thank you.

But its advice can be a bit limited...

Where can I find beer here?

Excellent, thank you.

And not everyone gets a response.

Hello, Fabio.

The ambient noise on the shop floor

is causing problems for Fabio's sensitive microphones.

For a robot or a computer to understand speech

in those kind of environments, it's really difficult.

It could, when there's only one person speaking,

be perfect at recognising people's speech

and to be able to interact really naturally.

But as soon as you put

three or four different conversations on in one shop,

maybe it can get a bit confused.

It's always tough on your first day.

Aware their new employee isn't quite up to the mark,

the shop owners have decided to give it a simpler role.

Would you be interested in sampling our pulled pork or a brownie?

We often have sampling sessions at lunchtime,

where we have a new product,

and we want to see if this is a job a robot could also do,

because it becomes quite a fairly repetitive job,

saying the same thing over and over again.

Would you be interested in sampling...?

No? That's fine.

It's quite tiring sometimes.

So this, for me, as an actual experiment

to see if this is something a robot can do in the future,

would be a fantastic job for it to do.

-That can be one less job for you.

-One less job for me, yeah.

This task should be easier for Fabio to master.

In samples mode,

its speech repertoire is limited to offering passers-by

a taste of two different deli foods.

The human touch is always nice.

But a cute robot like that, who could resist, you know?

Oh, he's having success already.

That's two in quick succession.

He's just a walking sign!

Fabio's encouraged a few samples.

But crucially, it's not initiating any conversation.

So Luisa steps in for a pep talk.

Hello.

Unlike its human counterpart,

Fabio will only deliver its sales pitch

if customers stop within the five-metre range of its sensors.

Come on, Fabio, you've got to give me something here.

Only once it has identified a human face will it start to interact.

Do you want to try the pulled pork after that sale?

That sounds like a pretty good option to me, yeah.

Luisa has initiated the programme for Fabio to talk.

And it tries to work the crowd alone.

But it seems that robots are easier to ignore than humans.

Oh, poor Fabio.

They're not actually looking at him as much as I thought they would.

I can see there's some customers there that are trying to avoid him.

Yeah.

I'm just finding it a bit disappointing

that people aren't taking him more seriously.

Brownie or we have pulled pork.

In the same 15 minutes, the human employee gave away 12 samples.

Fabio managed only two.

If a robot, rather than a human, is recommending something,

can we really trust that recommendation?

ShopBot is faking it.

It is actually telling a lie.

And we are expected to believe it.

Unfortunately, Fabio didn't perform as well as we'd hoped.

Never mind, Fabio.

Next time, eh, buddy.

Thank you.

Alcohol!

Fabio continues to show willing.

Do you understand?

Hold this then.

But the Margiottas have decided it's time for a chat.

Regarding that contract I gave you,

I don't think you need to sign it just yet, OK?

I'm sorry.

-Oh...!

-No!

Oh, no, Fabio, no.

No, we'd never be angry with you, pal, no.

Fabio's one-week trial is up.

And it's being packed off with a P45 and a fond farewell.

At the moment, we shouldn't be looking out for a robot

to replace any human's job.

But, actually, we're going to miss him.

I'm going to come into the shop looking for him

and he's not going to be there.

Right, are you ready to go? Come on, then.

Come on! Thank you, Dolly.

Now, let's walk.

In Ruislip, West London, Ethan has a play date.

Dolly, listen, do you love going for a walk?

Ethan's spent the last five weeks

practising how to socialise with Kaspar the robot...

There is a car coming. Quick, quick, quick!

..and is starting to put his new skills to use.

Come on, let's run!

You can't get me, Ethan!

Seesaw!

Faster!

Weeeeeeeeee!

He's in good form today, he's having a good time.

What's the time, Mr Wolf?

-Dinner time!

-SCREAMING

I look at Ethan now and I see him as happy as he's been in a while.

And I also see him as sociable as he's been in a while.

The main thing I've taken from Kaspar

is not to underestimate Ethan.

You know, it's really easy with a special needs kid

to kind of put a limit on what you think they can or can't do.

And he says quite a lot now.

If we get him to try new food when we're out, he'll say,

"Oh, yuck, that's disgusting!" And that's Kaspar.

But it's quite good,

because it means that Ethan's interpreting that question correctly

and he's telling me whether he likes something or not.

Kaspar's stay with the Dohertys has come to an end.

-Fort Knox. Hi, Ben.

-I'm here.

And the university researcher has arrived

to see how they're getting on.

-Can you find your elf?

-Oh, is it in there?

Come on, April, come on.

Dr Ben Robins is keen to find out what impact, if any,

Kaspar's had on Ethan.

The question is, did you find a benefit?

Yeah, we definitely found Kaspar to be beneficial for Ethan.

We do think it's complemented the other things that he's doing.

Through interacting with Kaspar,

he has been playing with April a lot more recently, actually.

Yeah, I've seen him initiating the play with Kaspar and with April.

It's absolutely fascinating, watching these encounters.

It's one of the first times that we've really been able to understand

how real research technology functions

outside in the wild with real people.

And also, it's been lovely to see the way that the children

accept the robots as members of the family.

We always measure stuff by how much we see Thomas the Tank Engine.

Thomas comes out, it's a bad time.

If Thomas is away, everything's all right.

And I don't think he's played with Thomas the Tank Engine

for four or five weeks now,

which is incredible, which is just great.

I think robots are going to take intelligent systems

out of our phones and put them into our lives.

We're going to be interacting with them physically,

which we've never done before, really.

If it's a technology that we really interact with

and that can interact back with us,

that is going to change our lives.

The igloo again!

Happy days are great days.

With Ethan, they're amazing.

They're not just good days, they're brilliant days,

because he's such good fun.

-KASPAR:

-Thank you for looking after me.

You're most welcome.

Have a lovely holiday!