42: The Answer to Almost Everything

Episode Synopsis

It is estimated that there are now more than 1.7 million robots with social capabilities in the world. They feed us, educate us, help us, and entertain us. Highly technical sex robots have existed for a long time. But can these machines actually develop feelings—or even experience love? "We have developed digital artificial hormones for our robot. And we are using artificial intelligence to simulate the changes in hormonal balance in a person who falls in love," explains Hooman Samani, a robotics developer at the University of Plymouth. Conversely, we are also moving closer to a human-machine relationship: For cognitive psychologist Martin Fischer of the University of Potsdam, certain psychological effects indicate that our attitude toward robots will become increasingly positive in the future.