[ted id=1908]

Sometime in the near future, we (or our children at least) will have robots in our lives. Do we want those machines to behave like, well, robots? Or do want to feel empathy toward them?

Is it more valuable to work with a robot who feels like a drone, a “lazy” team member who just does what it’s told? Or would we rather our robot become part of the team, support what we’re doing, and make us want to high-five it at the end of the day?

Animator, engineer and jazz musician Guy Hoffman has been developing robots that are responsive and human, despite their non-human appearance. And in this TED talk, he shows us what the difference is, and lets us experience how it might feel to have a robot we can “trust” and jam with in our lives.

Guy Hoffman: Robots with “soul” | Video on TED.com.