Leading article: Take two and oil me in the morning

Evidence, if any more were needed, that science fiction tells us more about the past than it does about the future. In all the long history of the literature of robots, from the mechanical birds of 9th century BC China to Isaac Asimov, one possible job for robots has been overlooked.

Today's real robots are not for entertaining kings or taking the drudgery out of the housework, but for dispensing pills in hospitals. As we report today, a medication-dispensing machine is coming soon to a ward near you. Robot nurses to take your temperature and blood pressure cannot be far behind. Makes sense, though, does it not?

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This is an area where human error is costly to lives and health. And it is rather easier to automate than road traffic. What else then?

In a doomed attempt to get ahead of the curse of science fiction, we predict that minimising human error will be what we want robots for. We look forward, then, to robots that will design and commission large infrastructure projects, such as Wembley and the 2012 Olympics, while humans build them.