Robots That Talk and Listen provides a forward-looking examination of speech and language in robots from technical, functional, and social perspectives.

Contributors address cultural foundations as well as the linguistic skills and technologies that robots need to function effectively in real-world settings. Among the most difficult and complex is the ability to understand and use language.

Speech-enabled automata are already serving as interactive toys, teacher's aides, and research assistants. These robots will soon be joined by personal companions, industrial co-workers, and military support automata.

The social impact of these and other robots extends well beyond the specific tasks they perform. Contributors tackle the most knotty of those issues, notably acceptance of advanced, speech-enabled robots and developing ethical and moral controls for robots.

Topics in this book include: