TED Talks Daily My year living with a robot | Emily Kate Genatowski
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Mar 3, 2026 
Emily Kate Genatowski, historian and AI researcher who lived with a humanoid robot for a year. She recounts everyday interactions with her robot roommate, home damage and liability questions, transit and registration hassles, where robots are socially welcome, and why practical regulation matters more than sensational headlines.
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Living With Tova The Humanoid Robot
- Emily Kate Genatowski lived with a Unitree G1 humanoid robot named Tova for most of a year to study everyday interactions.
- Tova had 3D LiDAR, a depth camera, microphone array, an LLM called Benben, and caused broken teacups and insurance questions.
Practical Problems Drive Robot Regulation
- Practical, mundane problems will shape robot policy more than grand philosophical debates.
- Questions like who is liable when a robot breaks a vase arise immediately and demand legal clarity.
Robot Proof Your Home Before Move In
- Robot-proof fragile areas of your home before bringing one inside to avoid damage.
- Emily lost teacups, vases, and nearly every wine glass because Tova's gestures and movement caused breakage.