Go Asimo!
I don't think there's anything wrong at all in our aim to build robots that look and behave more like humans. Human beings are naturally anthropocentric (meaning, humans are interested in other humans).
Personally, though, I would say that all robots ought to be personable, no matter what they look like or what their job is. It's kind of a touching belief I have for myself. I think it would be awesome if robots ought to be built in all imaginable shapes and sizes to all sorts of things to serve us, but be more than just a working tool. What if we had a new computer architecture that allowed computers to mimic the biological brain and be a better problem solver than something that just ran a program. Imagine, an intelligent robotic arm and processing line with such a computer architecture: if something went wrong, the robot would let a human being know, or it could adjust things itself...
Imagine giving robots important instincts for their jobs as well as good judgment in their work! Think about it: there's a fire and rescue robots have been dispatched. The robot would be able to make important choices, like valuing a parent's request to save a child rather than their own lives. Like I, Robot's Sonny! But these robots wouldn't necessarily look like humans. They could look like anything, as long as it gets the job done. Or perhaps you're trapped under an avalanche and snake-like search and rescue robots are out looking for you. Not only would the robots be physically designed for the job of sneaking through tight spaces to look for survivors, but maybe they would also be genuinely personable and give survivors words of comfort and hope while they signaled for help.
Of course, to prevent these robots from acting up and causing an awful mess instead of doing their job, these robots would be designed to feel happy fulfilling a certain niche. A robot arm on an assembly robot would be happy being what it is. A search and rescue robot would have an innate nature being happy with what it does. All based on a specially designed computer brain--not a microcontroller, but a genuine thinking mind! It would be a lot like breeding dogs or other animals for a special purpose, only with robots.
Think about it, all our robots in their diverse forms, shapes and sizes, but all personable! All anxious to help mankind with our needs! A genuine, thinking, feeling, living robot! I think this would benefit humans in another way too: we could learn to be comfortable interacting with intelligences other than our own kind! We could expand our way of appreciating life and intelligence in whatever forms they take. And think, with a mechanical creature like that, our robots would no longer be machines, they would have worth! Imagine a plaque dedicated to the service of a robot!
Whew! Okay, thanks for listening to my nonsense...this is a very passionate fantasy I have.
