Euronews Tech Talks Will robots do our dishes in 2030?
Nov 26, 2025
Kai Olav Ellefsen, an associate professor at the University of Oslo and leader of the Robotics and Intelligence Systems Research Group, dives into the fascinating world of robotics and AI. He explains how robots excel at industrial tasks but emphasizes the irreplaceable role of human contact in healthcare. Ellefsen discusses emerging home humanoid robots and the importance of ethical AI regulation. He also shares insights on job transformations by 2030 and highlights the leading nations in robotics, balancing excitement with caution about AI risks.
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Lab Demo With Tiago The Research Robot
- Kai Olav Ellefsen shows Tiago, a PAL Robotics mobile manipulator, being used as a research tool to test grasping and movement behaviours.
- The team teleoperates and programs Tiago to learn tasks like pushing objects and playing Connect Four to analyse failures and improvements.
Perceive, Reason, Act
- A robot needs three things: sense the environment, process information, and act via motors or effectors.
- Kai Olav Ellefsen uses this perception-reason-action triad to distinguish robots from ordinary appliances.
From Factories To Messy Fields
- Robots excel at repeatable, structured tasks like factory work and logistics but struggle with variation and change.
- Research is shifting them into less structured domains such as agriculture where similar yet non-identical tasks exist.
