Even regulations are keeping up with the robotic takeover of the workplace. In 2016, the ISO realised, while revising its standards for industrial robots, that the rules were becoming obsolete.

How robots learn to live alongside humans remains a tougher problem. Parada gives the example of a machine putting away groceries in a house full of people. The robot would have to understand signals from living occupants, such as when and how they are about to move.

YouTube is a wonderful place. But for every adorable and/or aw-inducing clip, there’s something so bizarre it makes you question everything you thought was right and good in the world.

Some of the biggest leaps in the field have been in software, in particular in the way robots are trained.

When the researchers instructed their pheromone-soaked machines to group together in the light, however, the other cockroaches followed. They chose the comfort of a group despite the danger of the light.

"We were always very clear about the fact that we weren't hiring a robot to replace a single employee," says Gilbert.

But thanks to advances in AI, the past two years have been different, even for those who have been working in the field for some time. “There’s an excitement in the air, and we all think this is something that is advancing at a much faster pace than we thought,” says Carolina Parada, head of Google DeepMind’s robotics team. “And that certainly has people energised.”

They are not taking the place of actual human explorers; they’re doing reconnaissance work to clear a path for a human mission to Mars. Once our astronauts venture to the Red Planet, they will have a level of familiarity and expertise that would not be possible without the rover missions.

“But the changes resulted in a new robot that could handle boxes faster, could work longer hours, and could operate in tight spaces, such as a truck. So humanoid research led to a useful Robot world non-humanoid robot.”

Europe's water is under increasing pressure. Pollution, droughts, floods are taking their toll on our drinking water, lakes, rivers and coastlines. Join us on a journey around Europe to see why protecting ecosystems matters, how our wastewater can be better managed, and to discover some of the best water solutions.

"Take one cell and automate it," von Hollen said. "And then, let others see what happens. We usually see that the person working in the automated cell gets faster and better, and then others start pushing for having access to the same technology."

If you go to the Makr Shakr bar in Milan, a top-notch rooftop venue overlooking the city's famous cathedral, you won't be greeted by any bartenders -- that is, of the human kind.

When he went up to the business owner to ask why his son had suddenly seen a case for deploying a robot, von Hollen was surprised to find out that the motive was not financial.

Sanctuary's newest and first bipedal robot, Phoenix, can stock shelves, unload delivery vehicles, and operate a checkout, early steps toward what Rose sees as a much longer-term goal of getting robots to perceive the physical world to be able to reason about it in a way that resembles intelligence.