Last week, the band Neurotic and the PVCs brought new meaning to the idea of cultivating an audience. The band played to a crowd of human fans and a set of three robots. The robots are rigged with "neural networks" based on human neurology that allow them to make their own neural connections...and therefore develop a taste for music.

Fiddian Warman, the band's frontman, conditioned the robots to appreciate punk by playing them selections from his own favorite artists. The idea then, was to bring the robots to a performance in London, and see how they responded to the live music. (The robots are programmed to show pleasure and displeasure through a "pogoing action.") Would they recognize Neurotic and the PVCs as punk musicians? Judging by this BBC video, it looks like the band got the nod from the bots.