Robots

A.I. Researchers Boycott South Korean University Over Plan To Build “Killer Robots” – #AI

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– AI Researchers Boycott South Korean University Over Plan To Build “Killer Robots”:

It looks like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Russian President Vladimir Putin aren’t the only ones who’ve envisioned a nightmare scenario where “killer robots” stalk through neighborhoods murdering innocent Americans (or Russians).

A group of artificial intelligence researchers from nearly 30 countries is boycotting one of South Korea’s most prestigious universities over concerns about a recent partnership with an “ethically dubious” arms manufacturer with the stated purpose to design and manufacture “autonomous weapons systems”.

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and its partner, the weapons manufacturer Hanwha Systems, one of South Korea’s largest arms dealers, are pushing back against the boycott, saying they have no intention of developing “killer robots” – even though the description of the project clearly states its goals, per the Guardian. 

“There are plenty of great things you can do with AI that save lives, including in a military context, but to openly declare the goal is to develop autonomous weapons and have a partner like this sparks huge concern,” said Toby Walsh, the organiser of the boycott and a professor at the University of New South Wales.

“This is a very respected university partnering with a very ethically dubious partner that continues to violate international norms.”

What’s worse, the scientists say, is Hanwha’s history of manufacturing and selling cluster munitions and other arms that are banned in more than 120 countries under an international treaty that South Korea, the US, Russia and China have not signed.

Read moreA.I. Researchers Boycott South Korean University Over Plan To Build “Killer Robots” – #AI

Mexican Man Stole American’s Identity, Collected $350,000 In Benefits Over 37 Years

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– Mexican Man Stole American’s Identity, Collected $350,000 In Benefits Over 37 Years:

No one should have to compete with robots. That is why everyone should strive to do what robots cannot.

Flipping burgers and taking orders are quite easy tasks for robots. We have already seen touchscreens offer an alternative to human cashiers. Now robots are starting to replace the backroom staff.

Flippy still requires some human help, but its learning. Flippy’s boss though says he is already better at his job than most workers.

A little quicker, he doesn’t mess up as much. The funny thing is that when you watch him scrape the grill after these burgers are done, he actually does it better than my average employee.

The added benefit is that Flippy can’t feel pain, and so no one is at risk of getting burned by the hot grill. And the owner doesn’t have to worry about getting sued or short-staffed. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if robot unions aren’t far behind.

Easy to laugh now, right? But Flippy is learning fast. Flippy and his cousins will start by taking over the service industry. But they won’t stop there.

Read moreMexican Man Stole American’s Identity, Collected $350,000 In Benefits Over 37 Years

Former Google Exec: Don’t Worry About Terminator Robots for Another Decade or Two

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– Former Google Exec: Don’t Worry About Terminator Robots for Another Decade or Two

Via: Defense News:

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence and military robotics have some concerned that the development of Terminator-like killer robots will be humankind’s downfall. But that doesn’t seem to worry Eric Schmidt, the former executive chairman of Google parent company Alphabet, who addressed the impact of technology on democracy at the Feb. 16-18 Munich Security Conference.

“Everyone immediately then wants to talk about all the movie-inspired death scenarios, and I can confidently predict to you that they are one to two decades away. So let’s worry about them, but let’s worry about them in a while,“ Schmidt said.

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H/t reader Squodgy:

“Heartwarming.

Why not just stop there and use them for peaceful purposes?”

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Humans Fight Back: San Fran Security Robot Attacked, Knocked Over, Smeared With Feces

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– Humans Fight Back: San Fran Security Robot Attacked, Knocked Over, Smeared With Feces:

Earlier today, we mentioned the bizarre story of a San Francisco animal shelter which was using a low cost, high-tech robot security guard to purge homeless people outside its facilities. The San Francisco SPCA branch had contracted Knightscope to provide a K5 robot (the same model which in July committed suicide at a mall fountain) for securing the outdoor spaces of the animal shelter.

Why use a robot to chase away humans? Simple: money – it costs the SPCA $7/hour to rent the robot, about $3 less than the minimum wage in California, and according to San Francisco Business Times, the robot was deployed as a “way to try dealing with the growing number of needles, car break-ins and crime that seemed to emanate from nearby tent encampments of homeless people.”

Everything was going great – and very cost-efficiently too – until the local humans fought back, knocked the robot over, and smearing it with feces before eventually forcing the robotic guardian to be purged itself.

Read moreHumans Fight Back: San Fran Security Robot Attacked, Knocked Over, Smeared With Feces

AND NOW: Robots Deployed To Purge Homeless From San Francisco Sidewalks

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– Anti-Homeless Robot Deployed in San Francisco:

As the homeless problem continues to surge in San Francisco, an animal advocacy and pet adoption clinic has taken the novel, if dystopian, approach of hiring an autonomous security robot unit to clear out vagrants. The SPCA (the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) deployed a K5 robot manufactured by Knightscope, a Silicon Valley-based robotics company, to help discourage homeless people from erecting tents on the sidewalks and streets near the clinic. Though it has reduced the number of encampments, the robot has drawn overwhelmingly negative reactions from city residents.

Resembling a Whovian Dalek, the K5 security robot moves at around three miles per hour and is equipped with four cameras and an array of lasers, thermal sensors, and GPS. It can be rented for $6 an hour as opposed to the $16/hr a security guard costs.

Representatives for the SPCA say homeless encampments were making the area dangerous for staff members.

Read moreAND NOW: Robots Deployed To Purge Homeless From San Francisco Sidewalks

Israel Has Built a Robot Army — and It Should Scare the Sh*t Out of You

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– Israel Has Built a Robot Army — and It Should Scare the Sh*t Out of You:

As Israel prepares for yet another war directly on its border, the truth about Israel’s vast military capabilities has been largely absent in the corporate media.

However, if one were to be fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to be able to travel to Israel’s border with Syria in the north and the Gaza strip in the south, they might see what looks more or less like a scene from RoboCop.

Israel is the first country in the world to use unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to not only patrol its borders but also to replace soldiers on missions, as well. The new Border Patroller model can be armed with remote-controlled weapons, reconnaissance means, and additional components that cannot be fitted on the traditional Guardium model it had been using for years prior.

The robot is also able to patrol underground and gather information for units that are present on the surface. For example, it can help soldiers avoid booby-trapped tunnels.

These robots can be given pre-designated routes for their patrol, making them more or less autonomous.

According to the New York Post:

Read moreIsrael Has Built a Robot Army — and It Should Scare the Sh*t Out of You

Great News From McKinsey: Robots Will Take 800 Million Jobs Worldwide By 2030

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– Great News From McKinsey: Robots Will Take 800 Million Jobs Worldwide By 2030:

Stories about robots taking over from humans have become prevalent. Recently we’ve written about a new Manhattan Shake Shack replacing human cashiers with robots, killer robots (a.k.a. lethal autonomous weapons systems), a Californian real estate company replacing commission-based human agents with robots, a cocaine workshop in Brazil with robots packing 150,000 baggies a day and the first robot to be awarded citizenship which hopes for “harmony with humans”. No chance.

In June, we discussed a McKinsey & Co. report which stated that US manufacturing could be poised for a recovery and not because of Trump’s policies. Indeed, McKinsey’s rationale was based on automation weakening the case for labour arbitrage. James Manyika, McKinsey Global Institute director, commented.

Read moreGreat News From McKinsey: Robots Will Take 800 Million Jobs Worldwide By 2030

Meet Laikago: China’s $25,000 Robo-Labrador (Video)

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– Meet Laikago: China’s $25,000 Robo-Labrador:

The Japanese have their non-nagging synthetic wives, the Saudis have their Shariah-compliant humanoid citizens, Americans are content with a backflipping supra-human, and now the Chinese get their very own 50lb, poop-less, robo-dog…

Meet Laikago – named after Laika, a Soviet dog who was the first living creature to orbit the Earth.

The Chinese-made robot dog weighs 22kg, a bit less than a common Labrador, and is around 60cm tall.

Read moreMeet Laikago: China’s $25,000 Robo-Labrador (Video)

Can You Do A Backflip? Because This Robot Can

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– Can You Do A Backflip? Because This Robot Can:

Since being founded in 1992 with funding from DARPA, robotics company Boston Dynamics has unveiled one nightmarish robotic creation after another. But the company outdid itself this week when it introduced the latest iteration of its ‘Atlas’ robot.

The company caused a stir after publishing a video on YouTube showing the hulking humanoid robot jumping across platforms of varying heights and even perform backflips on command – some of the most advanced capabilities demonstrated by any bipedal robot.

If you’re wondering how this seemingly trivial ability portends imminent warfare between mankind and the machines, then you need to ask yourself: When was the last time you did a standing backflip?

Unless you’re a gymnast, the answer is probably never.

Read moreCan You Do A Backflip? Because This Robot Can

Sex robot SHOCK: Increasing sophistication of AI will cause massive issues, experts warn

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– Sex robot SHOCK: Increasing sophistication of AI will cause massive issues, experts warn:

THE growing sophistication of creepily real sex robots is leading to moral and legal dilemmas, a leading academic has warned.

As technology has expanded sex robots have become increasingly lifelike, bringing about a the need for a revolution in how we think about sex, morals and the legal status of these sex robots, according to Kent Law School Professor Robin Mackenzie.

Prof Mackenzie specialises in areas such as robotics and the ethical and legal relations between humans and robots.

Read moreSex robot SHOCK: Increasing sophistication of AI will cause massive issues, experts warn

Meet Sophia: The Humanoid Robot That Was Granted Citizenship By Saudi Arabia

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– Meet Sophia: The Humanoid Robot That Was Granted Citizenship By Saudi Arabia:

One of the reasons why Saudi Arabia has found itself in fiscal and budgetary dire straits in recent years, is that as a result of the plunge in oil prices in recent years, the government has been unable to keep paying the thousands of local and foreign workers who are (or were) employed on any number of local infrastructure and development projects. However, with the Aramco IPO also suddenly on the rocks even as the country’s reserves continue to shrink and deficits grow, the Gulf kingdom appears to have come up with a radical solution to its structural problems, when on Wednesday Saudi Arabia became the first nation in the world to grant a robot citizenship.

The outspoken humanoid robot called Sophia, flown in from Hong Kong, was granted Saudi citizenship at the Future Investment Initiative, a major investment conference hosted by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) that aims to highlight the Kingdom’s ambitious Vision 2030 plan for the future.

Read moreMeet Sophia: The Humanoid Robot That Was Granted Citizenship By Saudi Arabia

Robocops Are Coming To London

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– Robocops Are Coming To London: 

All of Elon Musk’s worst fears are slowly becoming reality.

The Telegraph reports that robocop-type policing techniques are set to replace beat cops within a decade as the use of artificial intelligence becomes more widespread in investigating crimes.

Thames Valley Police said AI computers – which mimic humans by making decisions themselves – could be used to answer 999 calls, detect crimes and identify offenders.

But in one chilling detail that will hopefully be resolved within the next decade or so before robocops become a routine presence in London’s streets, the TVP warned of “bias” in the AI software and a concern that AI computers “might be unable to reason with a human”.

We don’t find further clues about the subject of these biases until much later in the story, when the leader of a civil liberties group – which have been predictably alarmed by plans to automate police forces – pointed to a study showing the machine’s algorithms have shown racial biases, according to the Telegraph.

Read moreRobocops Are Coming To London

New Robotic ‘Smart Crib’ Will Make Your Baby Stop Crying and Finally Go to Sleep

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– New Robotic ‘Smart Crib’ Will Make Your Baby Stop Crying and Finally Go to Sleep:

Would you trust a robot to rock your baby to sleep? The question likely elicits the chilling vision of a Terminator cradling your child. However, a new product — the Snoo — is, in fact, an automated crib, a high-tech bassinet perfectly calibrated to ‘swaddle’ infants and lull them into slumber. It’s an early entry of automated child care in an age that promises to integrate robotics into the daily fabric of human life.

So, back to the question at hand:

Would you trust a robot to swaddle your child while she sleeps?

The Snoo was developed by renowned pediatrician Dr. Harvey Karp, MIT-trained engineers, and Yves Behar, who runs a tech-savvy industrial design firm. The team’s goal was to recreate the sensations of being in the womb by swaddling the infant — restricting their limb movement, a practice some have criticized — and inundating them with white noise. This is accomplished with a sleeper outfit that one mother, Samantha Murphy Kelly, referred to as a “straight jacket” that safely secures the child as the bassinet rocks her to sleep. 

Read moreNew Robotic ‘Smart Crib’ Will Make Your Baby Stop Crying and Finally Go to Sleep

Former Facebook Exec Warns Society Will Collapse Within 30 Years As Robots Steal Half Of All Jobs

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– Former Facebook Exec Warns Society Will Collapse Within 30 Years As Robots Steal Half Of All Jobs:

“Within 30 years, half of humanity won’t have a job. It could get ugly. There could be a revolution.“…

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Amazon Hosts Robotics Competition To Figure Out How To Replace 230,000 Warehouse Workers

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– Amazon Hosts Robotics Competition To Figure Out How To Replace 230,000 Warehouse Workers:

Amazon has mastered the art of moving bins around a warehouse floor with miniature robotic forklifts, but a solution to automating the simple task of picking individual items out of those bins has remained elusive.  And, with 1,000’s of very expensive, sickly and generally needy humans currently fulfilling that task, you can bet Amazon is eagerly pursuing that solution with some level of urgency.

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Meet Tally: The Grocery Stocking Robot About To Eradicate 1,000’s Of Minimum Wage Jobs

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– Meet Tally: The Grocery Stocking Robot About To Eradicate 1,000’s Of Minimum Wage Jobs:

With nearly 40,000 grocery stores in the U.S. employing roughly 3.5mm people, most of whom work at or near minimum wage, Bernie’s “Fight for $15” agitators may want to take note of Tally, the grocery stocking robot.

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