How to teach human interaction to a robot? Lots of TV BILL KOLE

Remember the Jetsons' robot maid, Rosie? Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers think her future real-life incarnations can learn a thing or two from Steve Carell and other sitcom stars.

MIT says a computer that binge-watched YouTube videos and TV shows such as The Office, Big Bang Theory and Desperate Housewives learned how to predict whether the actors were about to hug, kiss, shake hands or slap high fives - advances that eventually could help the next generation of artificial intelligence function less clumsily.

"It could help a robot move more fluidly through your living space," says lead researcher Carl Vondrick. "The robot won't want to start pouring milk if it thinks you're about to pull the glass away."