Persona Synthetics in Regent Street?

The adverts for Persona Synthetics have popped up along Regent Street, as well as in London print media.

It's mainly the advert for 'Sally' which, in this case, is shown as designed for childcare, cooking and personal training.

The advert explains the use of a 4CX-CNS Neural Processor and a fully customisable personality. Oh, yes and an all-day battery.

There's also Charlie, the male-looking version with the same skill set and an asterisk to show that the base station is sold separately.

I'm a bit old school when I think about robots. I start by assuming that the Asimov Laws apply, although in the interests of good drama, they usually don't work.

• A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
• A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
• A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

Whether it's Hal's pod bay doors, the skittish David in Prometheus who mickey-finns a human's drink, or any of the Robocop type machines, each inevitably goes berserk. Piecemeal developments of operating systems have a lot to answer for - all those Friday scrum sprints before the pub. Along the way, various folk have had a go at redeveloping the Laws including exceptions for military kit, but the originals are still a good baseline.

So when this new series come along, I'll be waiting for the first signs of trouble.