File 6, Listening, Exercise 1

Audio script
Presenter What will the future bring? On todays programme, we talk to five leading scientists about the
future of robotics. Here are just a few short extracts of what they said.
The first speaker is Professor Amy Lloyd from the University of Swansea.
Amy In a sense, robots are all around us already, carrying out those boring menial jobs we all couldnt
live without. Freezing things, whisking things, switching appliances on and off. Its just that in the future
theyll get more complex, with more moving parts...
Presenter This is what Dr Daniel Stein of the Detroit College of Technology said.
Daniel Its an area thats already dominated by the science of robotics, and it will continue to be so in the
future. Weve all seen the dancing, moving robots with their spray cans in the ads. The repetitive act of
fixing together parts is a perfect robot task, and what was previously a very labour-intensive job done by
huge numbers of men on assembly lines, has been revolutionized.
Presenter Leading research scientist, Helen Mullins, offered this perspective.
Helen In my opinion, the future is in home entertainment rather than manufacturing. A major Japanese
electronics company already has a prototype of a yapping little robot Fido, which rolls over and wags its
tail just like the real thing. Its prohibitively expensive at the moment, but one day soon this sort of thing is
going to be a must-have. Well all want one
Presenter Professor Harry Bell of the Melbourne Research Centre took this view.
Harry Tiny is beautiful. And microscopic is even more wonderful. For me, thats where the future of
robotics lies. Imagine insect-like machines gnawing away at a previously inoperable cancer. Robots
making cars in large factories is yesterdays news. The future of robotics lies in the minute
Presenter And finally, Teresa Hay, an aeronautical engineer, had this to say.
Teresa I suppose, with my background, Im probably a little biased when I say that robots will be better
employed exploring the furthest reaches of the cosmos rather than scurrying around the kitchen cooking
and cleaning. Manned missions are simply not feasible because of the distances involved, so we will be
increasingly reliant on robots to do our exploring for us. And knowing whats out there may well be the
key to our long-term survival. Both nanotechnology and manufacturing have laid claim to robotics as a
key component of their future development, but, to my mind, the real future of robotics lies way, way out
there.