Robotics expert at King’s to inspire scientists of the future

PHYSICS and computer science students at the King’s School were told that science fiction had already become science fact by one of the country’s leading robotics engineers.

Dr Richard Crowder, a former King’s pupil and now a professor of Engineering at Southampton University, was talking to tomorrow’s inventors about the increasing pace of the current industrial revolution and the breathtaking influence robotics technology is already having in all our lives.

Dr Crowder told A-level students that, as Maxonians, they were “privileged to have an industrial heritage that saw the birth of industrial robotics technology with the advent of the Jacquard loom first used in the silk industry in the early 19th century”.

He added: “Now we see robotics technology applied across most modern, mass manufacture, and in the future robots will increasingly do all the dirty, dull and dangerous jobs.”

He also warned of the ethical dilemmas posed by the increasing deployment of artificial intelligence.

Head of science, Jim Street, said: “Richard challenged our brightest young minds to see how they might contribute to this unstoppable force for change and how they might manage its consequences so everyone in society could benefit.

“He was a truly inspiring speaker.”