Robots vs AI: Let’s clear up the confusion*

Spoiler alert: Robots aren’t AI.

Robots

A robot is a physical machine that performs tasks.

Think about those cute flat vacuums scurrying all over Insta influencers’ houses, or the precision machines that assist in delicate micro-surgical operations.

Robots can be autonomous or semi-autonomous, but here’s the thing: they don’t always use artificial intelligence.

Some real-life robot examples:

- Robot vacuums like the Roomba — with or without a cat on it

- Service robots that greet you at fancy hotels

- Industrial robots that sort packages (Hey, Amazon! You reading this?)

- Manufacturing robots that assemble cars

- Agri robots that handle irrigation, plowing or harvesting for farmers

AI

Artificial Intelligence is all about software; specifically, programs and systems that mimic human intelligence.

AI processes information, learns from it, solves problems and makes decisions.

But AI doesn’t need a physical body like a robot. It can exist purely as software — intangibly. And it’s everywhere, running the show in the background, often without us noticing.

Where AI may apply in your life:

- Voice assistants like Siri and Alexa

- Social media algorithms

- Streaming/binge recommendations on Netflix, YouTube or Spotify

- Fraud detection, like the bank’s text messages about “unusual activity”

• Targeted ads that follow you everywhere (Facebook, you stalker!)

In short, robots are machines that do physical stuff, while AI refers to a range of software systems that make decisions or learn from data.

Just to complicate matters further, sometimes robots and AI team up. Think of self-driving cars or drones, where the robot does the driving/flying, while AI makes real-time decisions.

But, for the most part, robots are hardware and AI is software intelligence.

Cool? Cool.

• which I helped to create. I have a keynote talk called “How Humans Can Use AI to Write More Human”, but it used to be called ‘How to Talk to Robots’. So even I am guilty of enmeshing robots with AI, under the guise of creative license. This is my penance.

Tiffany Markman is a multi-award-winning copywriter and trainer specialising in creativity, writing, content marketing, and confidence-building.

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