The groundbreaking machine is currently under development from Italian researchers who hope to mimic the human learning experience.

The hopes of the scientists are that the robot will develop and learn from nothing – much like a new-born child would.

The project is being led by Goal Robots in Italy, who hope to have the first learnable robot within four years.

Gianluca Baldassarre, from the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies of the National Research Council (CNR-Istc), who is co-ordinating the project, said: "The goal is to make robots that are able to learn independently, experimenting and making experiences exactly like young children, between one and two years old, and then apply their new acquired skills."