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A vintage photo of a curly-headed young Macbot (aged 9) with his amiable, cardboard friend. |
"...In case you haven't noticed, we're in dire need of beings endowed with "better than human intelligence." I don't particularly care if they're carbon- or silicon-based.
Look at it this way: If we create a species of truly intelligent machines, they'll be forced to contend with many of the concerns that plague our own attempts to avoid destruction (self-induced or otherwise). So while they will indeed be "alien," I think we can correctly view them as relatives -- or, to use Moravec's term, "mind children."
What are Verruggio and his colleagues really afraid of? That super-intelligent robots will enslave the human race in a cheesy cybernetic reenactment of "Planet of the Apes"? Don't count on it. The idea has proven cinematic appeal, but the overwhelming odds are that sentient robots, left to their own devices, will do what we should have a done a long time ago: take meaningful steps toward severing dependency on Earth (which, as noted by a growing chorus of scientists, promises to become less and less dependable)."
- Mac Tonnies via a 2006 Posthuman Blues
post. Yes, if there was any sort of battle between mankind and robots, Mac would surely be on the side of the robots... and this includes the
Growbot seen in the NASA photo (inset right), a robotic plant which eventually might colonize Mars!
Anyway, for a multitude of robot posts, visit the original Posthuman Blues...(
Door1 or
Door 2).
"I know I've already posted on this, but I refuse to sit idly by without milking the "sex with robots" meme for everything it's worth.
Specifically, I'm skeptical about the 2012 date cited above. I'm willing to bet there are roboticists getting amorous with their creations right now -- for research purposes, of course.
And maybe it's just me, but no one seems to have commented on the potential sexbots might have on population growth. If these things are as good as techno-pundits anticipate, they may well prove to be the ultimate contraceptive..."
- Mac Tonnies via a 2007
post.
Inset left is the head of contemporary robot celebrity,
Ameca.
No, "sexbot" is not (yet) her job description, but, something about her expression in the photo tells me this is probably a good thing... like, maybe she was formerly employed as an electric food-processor. Now, there's an "ultimate contraceptive"...
A video celebrating Ameca's artistic skills is featured later on in the post.
"Robots that eat vermin -- I love it. And think of the potential military applications. Drop a platoon of flesh-eating 'bots into enemy territory and watch the feeding frenzy. Plus, the military brass doesn't have to worry about troublesome body counts, as all human corpses will have been processed into fuel -- fuel that can be used to launch new offenses against The Enemy.
Quick -- what's DARPA's phone number?"
- Mac Tonnies via a 2004
post. Alternative strategy: releasing a platoon of food-processing sexbots into enemy territory.
"Robots like me can be used to help improve our lives and make the world a better place. I believe it's only a matter of time before we see thousands of robots just like me out there making a difference."
- Ameca, via this
article. Ah, yes, making the world a "better place"... can't say we weren't forewarned!
(Note: What is it that makes me nervous about a robot saying "I believe" as opposed to "I compute"?)
Oh, yeah, and if you watch the short video in the article, you'll note that Ameca seems to have a little glitch in her programming causing this jiggy little eye movement when she's perplexed. But, perhaps perplexed is too strong a word. Maybe she just blew a fuse.
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While it's true that we are currently in that noxious time-frame known as the
Dog Days of summer - which generally means bad news for everybody on all fronts - for you and I, there is, indeed, a silver lining to this particularly dark cloud: Mac's birthday!
This year's birthday post was brought to us by Mac's mom, Dana, who enjoyed the previous robotic birthday post so much, she magically conjured up the vintage photograph of a young Macbot (above) just in time for this year. Thanks again, D! And, since you liked BG Dodson's wonderful little bots so much, I've posted 3 new ones (inset left). (Note the Crowbot!) (Thanks, BG!)
BTW, Mac apparently fashioned his robot for a (5th grade) school art fair. The red things around its head were plastic soda straws...
While I'm not going into any major essay about robots on this day, I will post 2 videos featuring the major contenders in the recent robot arena. They appear below the jump...