Project Aiko Robot Advances Artificial Intelligence

Canadian Inventor, Le Trung, Invents Attractive Fembot to Do Household Chores

If you thought that a fembot was just a twist in an Austin Powers movie, think again. According to CNN, a Canadian inventor, Le Trung has shelled out $21,000 to build a female robot named Aiko. According to the report, Aiko (whose name means "love child") can do basic housekeeping such as cleaning and responds to touch. Grab Aiko and squeeze her too hard and she is liable to fight back. While Le Trung has denied the attractive looking Aiko was built for sex, he admitted the fembot Aiko's software could be reconfigured to allow her to simulate an orgasm.

Does Aiko react like any other woman?

The Huffington Post ran this story, along with a link to the YouTube video. The video demonstrates that Aiko will respond to touch and when her arm was squeezed, she expressed pain and asked Le Trung why he was doing that to her, then began rubbing the arm that was squeezed. Le Trung also grabbed her breast and she shoved him off, stating that she did like it when her breasts were touched. While the actions do simulate a how a female may react under such circumstances, her voice did not inflect to express the true emotional nature of her comments. Still, some bloggers find the idea of afembot being used for sex quite creepy.

Where's mine? Women can use a male robot like Aiko.

A woman around the house doing mundane chores is nothing new. Women would much rather prefer a male robot who'll do the dishes without rolling their eyes or the laundry without much fuss. A male robot such as Aiko could be well received among the single women demographic if he could do basic plumbing, was handy with a hammer and nails and could change the oil in their car.

According to The Sun, Le Trung invented Aiko with eye toward marketing clones as home helpers for the elderly. However, Aiko is still in development stages as she is currently wheelchair bound and unable to walk. He is currently seeking a sponsor to help him overcome that hurdle inAiko's development. There is some value in a robot to help the elderly, as a robot may enable them to stay in their homes longer and avoid the high cost of assisted care facilities.

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