Good bot, bad bot

Beware, the bots are coming. It is already shaping up to be the word of the year, and a substantial one with endless possibilities to amuse and entertain as well as frighten and harm. This is the Year of the Robot. Watch out, if you are an accountant or a telemarketer.

Robots have already made their share of headlines. Google did this when it bought Nest Labs, a maker of smart thermostats and smoke detectors, to add to an army of robotic companies, most recently Boston Dynamics.

Google has been in the driving seat for the driverless car. It claims data from its driverless Prius and Lexus cars proves they are far safer than trained professional drivers. Robots have faster reaction times.

The Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show showed off an immense cornucopia of new robots which can clean windows, teach children or provide companionship.

One of the stars in Las Vegas was a humanoid Robo-Thespian made by Britain's Engineered Arts that made hand gestures and delivered speeches.

Incapsula said that last year 61.5 per cent of all traffic on the web was generated by non-humans, and only 38.5 per cent by human beings. In 2012, humans generated 49 per cent of the traffic. There is good news and bad news in this because the non-humans - or bots - may be good or bad.