Question: Recently there was a Tv show that was on called "Humans". It was about AI in the form of androids called "synths". How close do you think we are to having AI like a "synth" in regular households?

Alison Whitaker answered on 21 Jun 2015:

Hi, I’ve been watching this show. I really like this sort of sic-fi. I think we are a long way off having them in households in the way they have them as they have them as part of health programmes as well as nannies. For something to be in every household, it actually takes quite a long time. The first smartphone was made in 1992. At that point, most people didn’t even have mobile phones, so it has taken 23 years for 75% of the population in the UK to get a smartphone. But adoption of technology is getting quicker too. I can see why the idea of having a synth or companion-based software seems quite a realistic thing for the future though and there is no doubt this sort of thing is being developed. Driverless cars already exist, and Samsung have released kitchen appliances that can be controlled remotely based on a specific recipe. We are a way off this being affordable for every day households though. Especially as lots of our population use food banks… I don’t think synths will feature for a while.