Preface: Erica is 23. She has a beautiful, neutral face and speaks in synthesised voice. She has 20 degrees of freedom but can’t move her hands yet. Hiroshi Ishiguro is her father and the bad boy of Japanese robotics. Together they will redefine what it means to be human and reveal that the future is closer than we might think. Is this what a new earth looks like; and will any language you do not understand be beyond the comprehension of Erica?