RoboReporter - Just like RoboCop only without the witty dialog

Ok, file this under "are you kidding me?" Two weeks ago, Scientists from Tokyo unveiled their latest Robotic creation: RobotReporter (Thanks to Dana Midby for calling my attention to this one).

Without repeating the entire article (which is translated from the original Japanese, for those of you who read Kanjii), the creators really think they are on to something here. The robot (I will call him Murphy) has the standard robotic bells and whistles: built in Seqway wheels to get around tricky press rooms, laser range finders to make sure you don't bump into Helen Thomas, Spy cameras to see what Rahm Emanuel is putting up on the slide show today, etc.

The magic is the artificial intelligence built into Murphy that helps him track down actual stories, interview subjects and decide if the content is newsworthy or not. At first glance, I laughed at such a ridiculous notion until I thought about the kinds of stories that have graced newspapers recently.

Seriously, do I think Murphy has any place in a modern newsroom? I'll answer that as soon as I land my flying car.

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