'What kind of Role Model Is a Robot?'

As the dream of robotic revolution is becoming increasingly real, people are starting to question the role of robots in today's society. Of course robots would be a lot of help to people who doesn't like a pair of hand ah?

A robotics professor has warned that a new breed of childcare robots developed in Japan and tested in American schools could lead to a "generation of social misfits".

Professor Noel Sharkey of Sheffield University said companies including Japanese giants Sony and NEC are developing domestic robots that are already being heavily tested in "childcare activities".

He fears parents will simply leave their offspring in the hands of "robot role-models" while they work.

Speaking ahead of a seminar on robotics at Cheltenham Science Festival, he said: "These robots are great for monitoring children.

"Adults can log into the robot from the internet or from their mobile phones. They can direct the robot and see through its cameras, they can even speak to the children through the robots voice.