The hopes and risks of bringing humanoid robots into our homes
Channel: PBS NewsHour
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Read a transcript preview of “The hopes and risks of bringing humanoid robots into our homes” from PBS NewsHour, uploaded on 2026-10-16.
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Language: American English (creator captions)
[0:00] I’m William Brangham, and this is "Horizons."
[0:02] Lifelike humanoid robots have captured our imagination for decades.
[0:07] Thank you, ma’am.
[0:08] I wish I had your confidence.
[0:09] Brangham: And today, those robots
[0:11] work in factories and assembly lines all over the world
[0:14] Will they, as some companies promise,
[0:17] soon be working in our own homes?
[0:20] As this technology speeds forward,
[0:22] are we racing into a new era,
[0:24] separating fact from fiction about our robotic future?
[0:28] Coming up next.
[0:29] ♪
[0:40] Announcer: Support for "Horizons"
[0:41] has been provided by...
[0:44] Steve and Marilyn Kerman
[0:46] and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
[0:49] Additional support is provided by Friends of the NewsHour.
[0:53] ♪
[1:16] This program was made possible
[1:18] by contributions to your PBS station
[1:20] from viewers like you.
[1:22] Thank you.
[1:24] From the David M. Rubenstein Studio
[1:26] at WETA in Washington,
[1:28] here is William Brangham.
[1:32] Welcome to "Horizons."
[1:34] Would you welcome a robot into your life?
[1:37] I don’t mean one of those rolling vacuum cleaners.
[1:39] I mean an actual life-sized humanoid robot.
[1:44] I understand why this is a complicated question,
[1:46] because for every depiction we’ve had
[1:48] of an efficient, helpful robot,
[1:50] like the prim, elegant C-3PO from "Star Wars."
[1:53] I am C-3PO,
[1:55] Human-Cyborg Relations,
[1:56] and this is my counterpart, R2-D2.
[1:59] Skywalker: Hello.
[2:00] Brangham: There are countless other nightmarish ones,
[2:04] like Roy Batty, the murderous replicant
[2:06] played by Rutger Hauer
[2:08] in Ridley Scott’s film "Blade Runner."
[2:12] Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it?
[2:15] Brangham: And, of cours