Robots really are taking over the world. They’re writing novels— the first was 1 the Road, a cyborg’s homage to Jack Kerouac published in 2018. And they’re making lunch: The California restaurant chain Cali Burger is trying out a robot that can flip 2, 000 burgers a day. What human can compete--especially given that robots don’t complain, ask for raises, or get drunk at the office Christmas party?

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the invention of the word robot by the Czech playwright Karel Capek, we thought it would be fun to take a look at another side of robotkind, one that’s all too human. Here’re two failed attempts by robots to replace us flesh-and-bone types.

A few years back, the Hennna Hotel in Nagasaki, Japan, hired 243 robots to cover positions ranging from receptionists to bellboys. Unfortunately, the check-in robots had trouble answering guests’ questions and photocopying passports, while bellboy robots kept banging into walls and tripping over curbs. One in-room assistant sprang to attention every time a lodger snored, saying, “Sorry, I couldn’t catch that. Could you repeat your request?” Not long after the experiment began, the hotel "fired" half of the malfunctioning robots. And they didn’t get their tips, either.

Facial recognition software has one problem— it can’t always recognize faces. The American Civil Liberties Union proved that point when it used the Amazon Rekognition software to match mug shots of criminals to 28 members of Congress. But what about soccer ball recognition? During a match last year, the Scottish soccer team Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC unveiled AI-programmed video cameras designed to automatically follow the ball. Alas, the cameras constantly mistook the referee’s bald head for the soccer ball. One helpful viewer called the team to suggest supplying the referee with a cap.

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With intelligent systems and new-age transit networks, life in the big cities will likely be happier and more efficient.

After all, more than 60 percent of the world's population is expected to live in cities by 2050, according to a UN report. The answer to making these cities more livable for so many people lies in creating "smart" cities. These cities will use 5G networks and the "internet of things" (IoT) to make everyday life safer and more convenient. Some cities are already using smart technology to improve the lives of residents.

But what exactly does a smart city do? In the United States cities of Boston and Baltimore, smart trash cans can sense how full they are inform cleaning workers when they need to be emptied. In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, traffic flow and energy usage are monitored and adjusted according to real-time data gathered from sensors(传感器)around the city. And in Copenhagen, Denmark, a smart bike system allows riders to check on air quality and traffic condition as they ride.

Smart cities will be interactive, allowing their residents to feel like they're truly shaping their environment, instead of merely existing in it. "One of the most important reasons to have a smart city is that we can actually communicate with our environment in a way that we never have in the past," said Mrinalini Ingram, head of a telecom company.

Smart cities will also allow us to save resources. By using sensors and 5G networks to monitor the use of water, gas and electricity, city managers can figure out how to distribute and save these resources more efficiently. Emissions of carbon dioxide and other air pollutants can be more closely monitored in smart cities as well.

Of course, it will take time and money to turn our current cities into the smart cities of the future. But as we've already seen, more cities around the world are already adopting smart technology in small ways. China, for instance, is making investments in big cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou to make them “smarter” It won't be long until even more cities start to develop their own smart infrastructure(基础设施).

A ship has used autonomous (自主的) sailing technology to complete a trip across world oceans for the first time. The Mayflower Autonomous Ship is a completely autonomous ocean research ship powered by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

The Mayflower recently completed a five- week trip across the Atlantic Ocean without any humans on board. It set off from the British port of Plymouth on April 27 and arrived in the eastern Canadian city of Halifax on June 5. The 15-meter Mayflower is named after a ship that carried a group of European settlers from Plymouth to North America more than 400 years ago. That famous trip, in 1620, prepared the way for Britain’s colonization (殖民) of what Europeans called the New World.

The Mayflower experienced breakdowns on its latest trip, as well as an earlier attempt to cross the Atlantic. The first attempt, in June 2021, was called off after a breakdown forced the ship to return to Plymouth. Later ,during the latest trip, a problem with the ship’s power system led project organizers to send the ship to Portugal’s Azores in the mid-Atlantic. A team member was flown to the area to perform repairs.

More troubles came in late May when the Mayflower developed another power issue. That trouble was also repaired. But the team decided to send the ship on a new path to Halifax Experts say AI is getting much better at helping self- sailing ships understand their surroundings and pilot themselves. But most autonomous systems cannot repair themselves when the engine fails. The Mayflower is equipped with instruments designed to measure the health of ocean water. Such ships could be used to probe into parts of oceans that are too difficult for people to reach.