|
Having some human-like personality traits doesn't mean that they aren't true robots. Even the robots in Karel Čapek's play R.U.R (where the term 'robot' comes from) exhibited human traits. These days, we often distinguish between an android, which has a body and mind which resembles a human from a robot, which has a non-human body and mind. But that's a fairly recent distinction, and an android is really a subset of robots.
If you have a robot who's function is to interact with humans, a physical and mental resemblance to humans is desirable. For other types of robots, it isn't necessary for the robot to look or act like a human. Of course, not every action that we do needs to be done by the robot in the same way. You could have a robot push a vacuum cleaner, but it turns out it is easier to build a Roomba.
|