Robot Competition Answers

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Here are all the answers to our 'How to Spot a Robot' Competition!
And the three lucky winners who will receive a signed copy of Bertie's new book - Undercover Robot, My First Year as a Human, which is now available on amazon.com.

Listen on to hear if you are one of the three lucky winners.

Hello, this is Jana, and I’m here with the results to our 'How Do you Spot a Robot' competition.

As you may know, Bertie has co-written a book called Undercover Robot, My First Year as a Human. And for a little bit of news about the book, here’s Bertie:

Bertie
Thanks Jana, I’m really pleased to discover that you can buy it in America on Amazon. There’s a small import fee, but as far as I can tell it’s easy to get hold of if you just search Amazon.com for Undercover robot by David Edmonds and Bertie Fraser.

Jana
Thanks Bertie. That is good news.

The plot is about a girl called Dotty who has to spend a year at school without being spotted as a robot. So to celebrate the publication of the book, we asked you the following question - - remind us Bertie, what was it.

Bertie
If there was a super-intelligent and lifelike robot in your class at school, what would be the telltale signs that he/she/it was a robot?"
Jana
Well, thank to all of you who sent in answers. All of them are really interesting. Bertie and I are going to read out as many as we are able to now, and at the end we will pick three winners to receive signed copies of Bertie’s book.

So first let’s go through all the answers. Bertie, you go first.

Bertie
Silas Tam from Hong Kong suggests It can't digest food, and therefore it can't turn the food into waste, so it wouldn't need to go to the toilet very often. There are only certain times when it has to go to the lavatory, like: before lunch and dinner, because its stomach can't contain too much food

Jana
Mallory Maisie aged 7 wrote: What if the robot fell over because of a glitch and there was no boo-boo!! If a human fell over there would be a boo-boo.

Or what if the teacher said it’s time to drink water and the robot drinks it and fries!

Bertie
Simon aged 9 & Violet aged 6 sent us a handwritten note observing:

If there were an undercover robot at our school we would find them because, if I said an idiom like “Hold your horses” instead of stopping they would go find horses to hold onto., .

Jana
Mikayla age 12 from New Zealand answered:
She might eat food funny because kids have a different style of eating When the adults programmed Dotty they might have programmed her to do and act like an adult.

Bertie
Mackenzie says she might act like a cyborg from space if she is not human

Jana
AvaLynn from Chicago who is 8 years old says
They would make some beeping noises that human children can't hear. They would do things differently than other kids.

Bertie
Andrea from Italy writes
During the recess, she doesn’t eat snacks or drinks something. During the lessons, she always answers correctly to every question that the teacher asks and…she never raises her hand to ask: “Teacher, can I go to the toilette”?

And by the way, we do explain as tastefully as possible in the book what happens when a robot goes to the toilet

Jana
Tehilla says the robot would very do something you're not supposed to do in public like picking his nose, or farting, or checking some "problems".

Bertie
Jake aged 13 says: “You could tell it was a robot during gym class, especially if you get hit/bumped by them, or if they get hurt they wouldn’t react or cry.

Jana
Mila, aged 8 from Boston, writes I am a big fan of Bertie’s. I believes there are 3 ways to see if someone in class is a robot or a human. 1. Robots have no emotions, happy or sad. 2. Robots have no sense of smell and taste. And 3. Robots are very smart.

Bertie
Ryan aged 8 says If there was a robot in my class I think You would hear a scrunchy voice- like a beep beep sound. Say hi to Jana for me!!

Ok, Hi Jana !

Jana
Hi Bertie, and Ryan.

Malcolm age 7 of Philadelphia, says.: "If she (the robot) fell down, and you heard her CRUNCH!"

Bertie

Xiong It would say odd things like "Do you like being a human?" and "I am completely human." Which would make the other kids a little suspicious”

Jana
Oluremi gives us several reasons including while others are busy sleeping over and such things, she would be charging her batteries AND she wouldn’t have parents, just government agents.

Bertie
Leigh says Maybe the robot would have a slight robotic voice, different from the other kids. Or, maybe if you asked to go to their house, an answer other than “Sure!” Or “I don’t think my parents would let me.” Would signal that they live in a lab?

off. And you might hear the machinery inside when she is thinking.

Jana
Emmie aged 10 wrote quite a lot, so I’m going to have to summarise: she says if you talk to Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant, each word has a specific pitch, and that it never changes. But if the scientists get the speech right, the robot might have trouble with empathy and imagining what other humans are feeling.

Bertie
Franklin aged 6 from the UK asks What happens when the robot gets wet? If it was a robot it would malfunction. When it was raining some paint might come off.

Arya says she would know a girl was really a robot if she banged herself and it sounded like metal. also if she did not say 'ouch'

Muaz says The tell-tale sign would be that this kid doesn't eat or drink

Jana
Norah answers If you cut open the skin you would see cords and wires instead of blood.

Bertie
Narayan who is 4 and a half says use a metal detector to tell if the robot is not human

Jana
Celeste aged 7 and a half says that the life-like robot would walk differently.

Bertie
Edward aged 8 says I sit next to her at lunchtime and she always has oil in her water bottle and a cog biscuit. In art she produces an exact copy of the painting we are studying, in two minutes flat.

Jana
Shoshana says, first of all, a human being needs to go to the bathroom and a robot does not so that would be a little suspicious and my second thing is that a robot would probably get everything right and it is not humanly possible to get everything right because no one and I mean no one is perfect!

Bertie
Madiha says that The tell-tale sign will be that the robot will be best in everything - it will be perfect!

Jana
Leelya, who tells us her name is Arabic for Lily, is 12 and gives us quite a few original answers including that the robot wouldn’t be able to distinguish between something that is supposed to be funny or some lame old joke, and wouldn’t know when to cry.

Bertie
Allen 12 yrs is old from Albuquerque New Mexico says that a robot would not be accustomed to slang phrases although he would have a high intellect ( Also a sign) he might not understand sarcasm.

Yup, I think that’s very true.

Jana
Theodora is 11 and lives in New York, and says I think that the robot will eat weird food and say weird things about humans and pay a lot more attention in class than the other students and never get an answer wrong

Bertie
Jack age 7 asks What would happen at lunch? A robot can't eat food. We could tell he is a robot because he would not ever eat.

Jana
Muaz says that a tell-tale sign would be that he /she doesn't eat or drink

Bertie
Kaie B aged 5 says A robot pretending to be a human would make a clanking sound when it bonks its arm! Humans make a dull bone sound when they bonk their arms!

Jana
Chrystal says you could tell a robot in class the feel of its skin

Bertie
Atlas thinks the telltale sign that a super-intelligent robot acting as a human in your classroom is that it never farts.

·

Jana
August believes the telltale sign that a super-intelligent robot acting as a human is in your classroom is that they’ve never gone to the nurse or gotten sick.
Bertie
Franklin age 6 asks, What happens when the robot gets wet? If it was a robot it would malfunction

Jana

Isaac thinks he would know Dotty isn't human because she wouldn't ever need to go to the bathroom

Bertie
Lorelai aged 11 says - “For one, the robot might do things either too well or not well enough, such as eating and talking. Secondly, the robot may talk...like a robot! Like they know everything.

Jana
Ellie’s answer is that the robot would look or act differently and get all of the tests correct because it could look up the answers on its system.

Bertie
moss aged 8 says the Hair and skin would be the giveaway

Jana
Katie (age 7) says 'she would always do super hard sums really quickly and she'd always win in a no blinking competition'

Bertie

Haley who is seven says,
"It probably wouldn't blink! I doubt we would see it eat or drink either!"
Jana
Clara who is five years old thinks it would talk funny (most do) and would not eat or drink so she could easily find them in her school.

Bertie
And I think that’s the final answer. I really hope we haven’t missed any.

Jana
Wow! Lots of Great answers there. Bertie - which do you think are the three best.

Bertie
Jana, that is an almost impossible task. I really hate picking winners because it’s so subjective, but we have to try. I’d like to have at least one answer that talks about how robots think and feel. I think Emmie aged 10, was very on the mark to say that a robot might have trouble imagining what other humans are feeling and that would show up in the way she related to people.

Jana
And I’d like to pick one that is about language. Allen 12 yrs he might not understand sarcasm

Bertie
Yes, that’s a very clever answer. I think we need one from a younger listener now. Which one caught your eye, Jana

Jana
Well, there were lots of lovely answers from our younger listeners, but this is one that I thought was really unusual. Katie (age 7) the robot would always win in a no blinking competition'

Bertie
Yes, that made me laugh too. Well many congratulations to the winners! We will be in touch and I’ll be signing copies and sending them to you soon.

And to everyone else, I hope you don’t feel too disappointed! There’s always an element of luck as well as skill in competitions. We really did enjoy all the answers - they were all fantastic - and it’s really hard to pick winners. I hope you enjoyed hearing yours readout.

Jana
Yes, and do remember you can buy Undercover Robot on Amazon. It’s a really great read. Have there been any reviews yet Bertie?

We had a good write up in Britain’s Jewish Chronicle and people have been saying nice things about us on Twitter and on Amazon. Here’s one of my favourite amazon reviews, which is the first to come from the United States.

Fantastic philosophy, humour and adventure for children and adults.
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2020

Maybe as a developmental psychologist and philosopher, I was bound to enjoy the deep philosophical themes of the book (Consciousness, identity, morality, ). But when my 8-year-old grandson got it in the mail, without knowing where it came from, he was immediately caught and couldn't stop reading - we're rereading it together and a) laugh out loud b) can't wait to see what exciting adventure unfolds next and c) have great discussions about the philosophical ideas. He thinks its one of the best books ever and so do I

Jana
One of the best books ever, hey, well you can’t say fairer than that.

Bertie
Yes, that was nice.

Jana, we’ll be back soon with a new story, so keep listening!

Congratulations: to Emmie, Allen, and Katie!