Never Worry, Our Robot Overlords Will Babysit Your Children

People talk about this politician or that being responsible for the decline of civilization. These people are, what we here at Nude Hippo call, morons. Politicians have a short shelf life. No, it is the huddled masses, yearning to be useless, who are to be our downfall. The great unwashed continue to do everything in their power to wipe our DNA from the face of the planet. They surrender our freedoms for specious security, they demand the right to carry weapons while we have no enemies on our shores and they whimper when their demands are met and cause havoc. While there are we sad few who attempt to ask that humanity try not to act like spoiled children, the majority continue to march merrily forward so they can hand over our future to anyone but us. These are the same idiots who believe in ancient aliens, tinfoil hats and think that Ghost Hunters is really a documentary.

No, sorry, these people are wrong.

But, no matter how obvious our demise may be, there are those who continue to do their level best to just shuck their mortal responsibilities and let someone else handle the difficult chores. You know, stuff that we used to do since we came down from the trees? Like raising children? MDeeDubroff reports about the – oh so cute – Kibot. A babysitting robot.

Add two more L’s and you’ll know what it really is.

Although robots have infiltrated our daily lives in many positive ways, part babysitter, part teacher appears to be a new role. A Korean telecom company, KT Corporation, has invented a robot named Kibot that can read, sing and speak to children in several languages.

Kibot resembles a toy monkey and stands about 12 inches. Don’t let its innocent appearance fool you; this sophisticated bot has an integrated web cam and wi-fi and sells for $450 (£279).

Communication is achieved via flash cards, but the bot’s most amazing feature is that it makes mothers feel connected with their children all the time.

Via a phone, a mother at work can instruct the robot to search her house for her children if she cannot see them playing.

The face-to-face videophone function makes it easy for toddlers to operate and from the parents’ side, the robot can be controlled from a smartphone simply by calling in.

“We trust our babysitter, but sometimes it’s much better to have someone or something else monitoring my babies… We’ve tried all interactive educational toys, but this one actually initiates interaction both in Korean and in English,” one mother told ABC News.

Kibot is the perfect playmate as it never tires of encouraging its young charges to play and explore. It is a vital language tool as well, especially for those Korean parents who may wish their children to begin learning English at a very early age.

Kibot represents the outgrowth of the growing trend in South Korean private schools that requires children to speak English.

When Kibot is left alone, it moves around the house searching for a child to play with. It is a demanding playmate as it won’t take no for an answer in any of the many languages it has been programmed to speak.

Almost all of South Korea’s homes have broadband access, which puts South Korea on top of the world’s most wired countries list.

In other words, for less than it costs to take a family of four to a Cubs’ game you can turn your child into a drooling slave of our robot overlords.

Actually, when I think about it, it may be a better use of your money.

Listen to Bill McCormick on WBIG AM 1280, every Thursday morning around 9:10!