A NEW breed of childcare robots being developed in Japan and tested in American schools could lead to a "generation of social misfits".

Thats the warning from robotics professor Noel Sharkey of the University of Sheffield.

Professor Sharkey says he fears parents will simply leave their children in the hands of "robot role-models" while they work.

Speaking ahead of a seminar on robotics at Cheltenham Science Festival, he said: "These robots are great for monitoring children.

"Adults can log into the robot from the internet or from their mobile phones.

"They can direct the robot and see through its cameras, they can even speak to the children through the robots voice.

Useful

"This new generation of robots can also monitor the whereabouts of children via radio frequency tags worn by children, plus they can keep children entertained by playing games.

"Currently it would not be legal to use these robots to mind children in a nursery without adults being present; but it would be perfectly legal to use them in the home.

"I can see the benefits of these childcare robots for busy professionals working from home. But my concern, is that they may prove to be too useful.

"With more and more people working from home on their computers, it would be all too easy to leave the kids with a robot and watch what is going on in the corner of your computer screen.