Scientists in the 1950s proclaimed the robot the brainwave (灵感，灵机) of the future—it would free housewives of drudgery (单调沉闷的工作) and fill factories with tireless work force. But in many ways, the brainwave has been a washout. Robots can paint cars, salvage (收集) nuclear fuel and even assist in brain surgery, but theyre still pretty dumb. Mr. Reddy says robots are dumb 'because we havent taken the trouble to put the pieces together, not because we dont know how. That takes money and time and effort, and we dont have the money'. But today robots can recognize forms and shapes and measure distances. They can hear and speak by using computers that recognize thousands of words. Their sensors can detect smoke or fumes. They can move about rolling on wheels or walk with as many as eight legs like a spider on uneven terrain (地面,地带). In addition, they can recognize texture and the force of a movement, such as pressing. Many robots have one or two of these abilities to some degree, but creating a competent robot that combines most or all of them has been difficult. Scientists have also found it difficult to match human abilities that most people take for granted such as the fingers dexterity (灵巧,熟练) or the ability to identify objects. 'The list of things that robots can do better than humans is much shorter than the list of things robots cannot,' says Tom Smith from the Cambridge Mellon Institute. Which of the following best expresses the ideas of the passage?