Reality once again transcended science fiction last month when The World Robot Declaration was issued in an effort to establish a basis for equality between humans and robot-kind.

Isaac Asimov's well-known Three Laws of Robotics, which he created in the 1940s, clearly placed sentient man higher in the food chain than sentient machine. They were:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm;
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law;
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

He used these laws throughout many of his own writings and they permeated across media and time to become part of the public consciousness. When robots begin to run amok in books and movies, people feel justified being upset because "it's against the laws" and shouldn't occur. But these laws were created as part of his fiction at a time when sending machines to Mars or even the moon occurred only in imagination.

The World Robot Conference's own three-part list of "expectations for next-generation robots" ranks the biological and mechanical on a more equal plane. Their World Robot Declaration issued on Feb. 25 from Fukuoka, Japan, states that:

1. Next-generation robots will be partners that coexist with human beings;
2. Next-generation robots will assist human beings both physically and psychologically;
3. Next-generation robots will contribute to the realization of a safe and peaceful society.

The tone of these guiding principles assumes that so-called "next-generation" robots will have the capacity to "coexist with humans," help build a better world, and contribute to a benevolent society. While science, in theory, is often guided by altruism, technology regularly evolves in maleficent ways. Without a foundation that clearly states robots must be subservient to mankind, are we putting ourselves at risk of real situations where a machine like HAL-9000 may start killing people or where a suddenly cognizant Matrix or SkyNet decides humanity is the real problem?

Matt Deeds, a robotics enthusiast since his days as a MIT grad student and currently a developer at IBM Canada, says there's no need to be concerned, for now. "In the past decade, there has been a big push to have computers that can come up with their own decisions," he says. "But nothing is even close to being self-aware ... something you would need to get the SkyNet scenario."

"When you have something as sophisticated as a robot, one of the things you concentrate on is emergent behaviour, when it does something that you didn't explicitly tell it to do," he says. "It's a principle of AI (Artificial Intelligence) development. You want to make it predictable enough that it doesn't do anything bad, but emergent enough so it does something new."

Deeds recognizes the possibility that unpredictability could become deadly volatility. "You might have a military vehicle that decides that its best course of action is to destroy something you didn't want it to," he says. "And that might not be a malfunction. It could just be part of the programming which emerges in a way you didn't expect."

So what direction are the crosshairs of that programming aimed at?

That depends on geography and culture.

In Asia, advances in robot technology have stimulated growth of personal-use robots, including pets (Sony's AIBO puppy and Sanyo's new Banryu robot guard dog), vacuum cleaners (Roomba's Robotic Floorvac) and various two-legged little helpers: Sony's QRIO, Honda's Asimo, and Toyota's currently-nameless trumpet-playing robot are all humanoid-type robots designed for utility and entertainment.

Japan and Korea's R&D initiatives are mostly geared in a practical direction. They are trying to create useful tools that can save people time and make their lives more efficient. The fairly consistent 'cool factor' that goes along with these innovations is often an afterthought from marketing teams.

When the Roomba Robotic Floorvac first came out, the primary marketing message was that 97% of a floor surface could be vacuumed, far better than what a human can do. "What they found was that the owners wouldn't just turn it on and leave; they would watch it," says Deeds. It was entertainment, and the manufacturer recognized that. "Now there are lights and pre-programmable patterns for you to watch while it works for you. It's interesting that it's not saving you much more time than you would spend vacuuming yourself."

Recently, a trend has emerged in Asia where robots are being created to care for growing elderly populations.

Mitsubishi's impressive Wakamaru robot is a sophisticated three-foot-tall robot companion for elderly people that speaks (and listens), gives reminders to take medicine on time and has an embedded cell phone so it can make calls in case of emergencies. It also has two camera eyes, so working people can monitor their parents from their offices, over the Internet.

Yoshiyuki Sankai, a professor and engineer at Tsukuba University in Japan, invented a robot suit designed to help disabled people who have lost strength in their legs move around on their own. It's a motorized, battery-operated pair of pants that detects faint electrical impulses from leg muscles and translates them into movements. Even a weak person can use this to walk 4km per hour with little physical exertion. And this isn't just a laboratory development; it will be available commercially next year.

Across the Pacific, American technologists are working on exoskeleton technology similar to Professor Sankai's, but without the gentle touch.

The Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton that enhances human strength and endurance is currently being developed at UC Berkelely with funding provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It's part of the Pentagon's efforts to create better soldiers with greater capabilities. With it, a soldier wearing the 100-pound exoskeleton and a 70-pound backpack would feel as though she were only lugging a mere 5 pounds. That means she could carry bigger, badder guns with more killing power.

DARPA is the same organization that recently sponsored the sensational DARPA Grand Challenge, where unmanned vehicles competed in a 200-mile race across the Mojave Desert. Despite the $1 Million prize, none of the entrants made it to the finish line. They weren't sufficiently dexterous or (artificially) intelligent enough to pull it off.

The Pentagon has a mandate to minimize soldier risk in future combat situations. They want robots to do most of the dirty work, but today the technology for this doesn't exist. A lot of brilliant minds, effort and dollars are being directed towards making it happen, however, and the machines are getting smarter each day.

So how soon until we have the type of robots who will fall under the protection of The World Robot Declaration?

Deeds says that Moore's Law doesn't apply in robot technology. "Right now, there haven't been any huge advantages or big breakthroughs [towards] a computer becoming self-aware, but something like that has to happen soon. We're just throwing more computational capability and innovation at it, and [eventually] we're going to do something really new."

Should we be worried?

"Giving robots control over any part of our lives … will put as at risk at some level … whether it is for military or agricultural applications," says Deeds.

Whether the eventual scenarios play out like a malevolent Prometheus Unbound (Frankenstein) wreaking mass destruction or a benevolent Mighty Atom (Astroboy) making the world a safer place, depends on many things: culture, technology and scientific purpose.

To prevent SkyNet-like scenarios, perhaps Asian countries should implement regulations that restrict exporting robotics technology in the same way that the USA currently restricts exporting encryption technology. That type of safeguard might be more valuable to us all than Asimov's now-antiquated laws ever were.