Robots are the future, unless its Cassandra | Lifestyle

It’s easy to fall in love with convenience, even if it comes with a little bit of cynicism ahead of time. But, after watching the German somewhat-horror Cassandra on Netflix, it’s even easier to start wondering whether a robot in the home is a good idea at all. But, so far, so good, and it hasn’t tried to kill me yet, but neither has it made a cappuccino.

Home automation has always been the science of lazy. When you clapped your hands in the 70s, the lights could go on and off. Now, all you must do is chat to Alexa and ask for music, open the curtains, turn on the telly or play a tune. These days, the internet of things allows for heating up your home before you get there in winter or cooling down sunsets. It’s all here, right now, though it comes at a price. But robots are the future, whichever way you look at it.

Robots are the future, now

My four and six year old are still more amenable to being sent to feed the dogs or do a few chores around the house. They don’t need to be programmed, just taught how to do stuff; one day ready to spread their wings and… move into an automated home.

Because that is probably in their near future anyway. By that time, each home will have its own robot butler, I’m sure; one that serves you a drink on demand. No fingers lifted; no sweat broken.

Some of all of this can already be a reality though. Never in a million years did I think that I would fall in love with a robot. And not just any robot. One that cleans and mops up the kitchen, a machine that maps home and navigates between the chairs. A bot that learns where your couch is, where the closets are and how not to venture outside. It’s as fascinating as it is incredible, as it is, well, the end of all my resistance to a bit of tech in the home.

Fell in love with a robot

The Hobot Legee Q10 is one of the many electronic vacuum-cleaning-hoovering-mops on the market. It’s about R8 000 and when I was asked to review the bot, it was with a solid measure of cynicism. How could a small plastic disk that roams around like a hovercraft on steroids do any better than a broom? Or improve on a mop and a normal plug and suck?

And this is where I stop, because over the next two weeks I was gobsmacked. Then became fascinated and even a little bit scared. Because this machine got to know my house in no time. It climbed over stuff, ramped things, got stuck once or twice (but it called for help), and learnt how to suck mop and vacuum between chair legs, table legs and couches. These things can really think. In fact, watching it is an endless source of fascination, because it really seems as if it considers everything it does.

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I even spilt a drink on the floor to test its resolve. Plonked it a few metres from the mess and observed. And on Jupiter’s Stone as the Romans would say, as the Legee started doing its thing, it found the puddle of soft drink. It cleaned it up and went back to its charging station, by itself.

Not a toy, but playful

It’s not a toy, but it feels playful. The Legee Q10 is the first robot I have ever used. And it was incredible. Dog hair, dirt, it’s a search and destroy machine that is surprisingly hardy. The kids love it, fascinated by it and the dog, well, not so much.

The only thing is, that despite the absolute wonderfulness of the machine, thoughts of Cassandra linger. If you have not watched the show, make sure that you do. It will make you think twice about home automation and any kind of reliance on artificial intelligence. But then again, a mother-in-law can be equally as scary, and for now, before she comes to visit, the Hobot Legee Q10 can give the house a once-over while I watch the rugby.

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