Recently, a conference at the University of Miami School of Law centered around the legal issues of robots working among humans. Called “We Robot“, it was the inaugural conference dealing “with legal and policy issues relating to robotics.” This is a very significant development because it signals the impending deployment of robots in domestic life beyond vacuum cleaners and packbots.   This partial list of fascinating topics is indicative of what is to come in the near future.  Some of the session titles included:

A video archive of the various presentations is available.

There have been a  number of recent acquisitions and consolidations in the robotics industry and there is now no doubt that critical developments in technology that will allow for domestication of robots will be coming fast and furious over the next half decade and beyond.  STEM teachers and students will need to continue to push hard for adoption of more STEM concepts interwoven in their school curricula as jobs in this field add even more options for future employment and entrepeneurship.