You come home after a hard day’s work to find the lawn’s been mowed, laundry’s done, clothes ironed and the house spotless. Is this the result of your wife’s household cleaning abilities? No, this is the twenty first century, and Tony 220i, your domestic service robot has been effortlessly running errands for the last nine hours.

As Bill Gates claimed, the robot industry “may well change the world”[1]. With companies like Honda and Toyota working on advanced programs we can assume there will be drastic changes to our lifestyles. It’s predicted that we are 20 years away from an ironing robot, and within 50 years domestic robots will be common place in our homes. This is enticing for housework haters and an increasingly comatose society.

Introducing domestic robots is like providing a pampering service, in which the recipients soon become reliant upon. Mundane tasks will be done for us while we vegetate on the couch. We’ll view it as a disaster when it breaks down. Soon the inert society could become an obese one.

And while we put on weight, it’s doubtful our robot friend will soothe us with social interaction. Despite lacking this human characteristic there is immense potential to use them to help care for the elderly. So when our parents grow old the robot plays a caring role. At a time when a person needs increased attention, is it morally right to provide them with an emotionless piece of machinery?

Although, Honda’s new humanoid robot, ASIMO, demonstrates advanced human interaction abilities.[2] But it’s doubtful it will ever equate to a human being.