ROBOT housekeepers could be a reality within a decade, say experts.

Human-like machines will use artificial intelligence to learn how to clean, tidy and even prepare food.

1

Robot housekeepers could be a reality within a decade, using AI to clean, tidy and even prepare food, experts sayCredit: Alamy
The first models are expected to cost the same as a family car — from around £16,000 to £40,000.

Engineers at the world-leading Massachusetts Institute of Technology believe humanoid machines would make sense as “homes have been built and arranged around the human body”.

Computer scientist Prof Pulkit Agrawal said: “In terms of things to do, it could be checking doors are locked, fetching a newspaper, putting laundry in and out of the machine.

“It could be arranging things in your kitchen and your bedroom, putting things in a dishwasher — maybe even chopping vegetables.

We need these physical tasks done but don’t like to do them.

“My guess is this could be available in the next five to ten years.”

Teams at the US institute are already working on pressure-sensitive fingers so robots can “feel” the force they apply and not crush everything they grab.

They are also developing AI brains that adapt to different ways of doing chores in changing situations, like dishes left in different places or put in different cupboards.

Eerie moment world-first humanoid bot with ‘muscle & bones’ spasms into life