من The Zeitgeist Movement
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I, personally do not think of robots (from robotnik: Russian word for slave, coined by Isaac Asimov) in the Hollywood sense. To me, a robot seems too limited in it's usefulness and efficiency if it is built just to mimic a human being, especially at the present state of robotics. My idea of a robot is simply an intelligent enough automated machine, sometimes autonomous and sometimes not. For instance, my printer and my elevator are simple robots. I tell them what I need, they do it as I wish, and that's all they do. It is this type of automated machinery, and not androids or Blade Runner's replicants, that are best suited to liberate humanity from bondage. Work must be done, but for the sake of a high standard of intellectual freedom, not money. You don't need a central nervous system to hunt for food. You don't need one to make cup cakes or PVC extrusions either. You only need the brain to think of the cup cakes and the automated systems can make all the cup cakes you want (I think Jacque also said that about Twinkies).
It would be a crime against nature to make a slave out of scrap iron or titanium and then give it emotional awareness without freedom. This is why I am opposed to the development of AI beyond what is necessary to perform within the scope of it's creation. It will do no good to build a new intellectual being while we are still trying to free our own buttocks from intellectual deprivation and the emotional strain and confusion that it causes.
A robot that experiences emotions and moods cannot be enslaved without the consequences of conscience. Logic would dictate that it could not be used for the drudgery that other emotional beings seek to escape from without developing similar problems.
Robotic systems will eventually develop associative intelligence that will allow them to alter themselves as tasks require. This development will allow for fewer machines to do more work and a wider variety of types of work. In the early 1990s, robotics developed to the level that robots already knew when they were injured or hungry. The best that could be done to balance them on legs was to hop on one leg. There are numerous documentaries on the subject, but Look at this Video of ongoing R&D in the defense industry:
[[1]] Boston Dynamics Big Dog.
[[2]] Boston Dynamics Little Dog.
These are obviously examples of very useful applications for human assistance and far better than the talking mannequins some developers are so proud of. Too bad it's a defense project and not a peaceful human assistance project.
Robotic waitstaff and pets are a consumerist creation. They will likely become less common as society becomes less consumerist, but they may remain in existence for some entertainment and education applications, particularly for medical, emergency, and living object lessons for children where a living being may be in danger.
I'll have examples of robotics application ideas later in relevant sections.
In the mean time look at this and try to imagine what sanity might look like. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/pw_singer_on_robots_of_war.html Here is the list he refers to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI%27s_100_Years..._100_Heroes_and_Villains