In an event that had Washington talking, a White House summit on the future of education was hosted by a mechanical, seemingly automated humanoid and a robot called ‘Figure 03’.

Some criticised the android for being stilted and lacking in warmth. "Look, I think it was quite a good attempt at mimicking human emotion, but it was very superficial and a little soulless. The Figure 3 robot on the other hand I thought was quite impressive in its communication,” one attendee said.

“Certainly it felt scripted and forced – I thought she did quite a good job of impersonating empathy, but you could tell it wasn’t real. I guess that’s something that you can’t fake,” another noted.

One of the presenters briefly froze while processing a question about ethics and the extent of corruption in the White House. “It eventually came back with a 404 Error message, which was a pity,” one attendee said. “Although I thought the robot then stepped in and answered it quite well”.