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From the article: "and robotics are in their infancy, a niche, with too few practical uses as yet." Why does it seem like robotics is always niche and not prac

• nerdponx 9y ago
  And robotics in industrial manufacturing are a REALLY BIG thing. Seems silly to discount that, unless by "robotics" he means "robotics+AI"
  • snerbles 9y ago
    Industrial automation isn't particularly visible to the average consumer on a day-to-day basis.
    • TheOtherHobbes 9y ago
      Average consumers have no clue about the incredibly complex industrial infrastructure that keeps food on the table, the lights on, and transport, communications, and logistics running. I think this stuff should be taught in schools. From Mossberg's POV industrial computing and industrial robotics are already ambient and invisible. Not everyone needs a professional understanding of how they work, but some basic clue wouldn't be bad.
  • djrogers 9y ago
    Given his focus on consumer electronics, it seems probable that he's referring to consumer robots. In that space we have roombas, pool cleaners, and a handful of selfie-taking quadcopters. Definitely niche.
• martincmartin 9y ago
  "We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run." -- Roy Amara disclaimer: I have a Ph.D. in Robotics from CMU. AI is similar: in the 1960s, it seemed machine translation was "just around the corner," but it turned out to not be practical for a long time. Until it was, in the 2000s or so.
  • Eridrus 9y ago
    I think it's worth noting that the approach to translation has changed significantly since the 1960s. AFAIK the real breakthrough wasn't that technology just got better, but that the whole paradigm shifted to statistical machine translation in the early 90s, and the whole paradigm is changing again from phrase-based statistical translation to neural network-based translations. The shift to neural nets can be somewhat attributed to increased compute capacity, but it's not an automatic result of it. I have no idea what the state of the art is in robotics, but I expect there will be some fundamental changes to how we do robotics before it becomes a break-out success.
    • Retric 9y ago
      It was really not reasonable to do this stuff using 60's erra computing technology. So, it's more new tech enabling new and less efficient approaches than generally talked about.
      • Eridrus 9y ago
        That's definitely true, but you need both, and having access to more compute doesn't automatically mean you will find new approaches, someone actually has to put in the hard work.
        • Retric 9y ago
          True enough. But, to be clear many of these ideas are 20+ years old they simply did not work back then.
• bluGill 9y ago
  Is my dishwasher in the kitchen a robot? Justify your answer (either is acceptable, I'm looking for your reasoning).
  • Eridrus 9y ago
    Not the OP, but I think the answer is definitely no. Robots are not well defined, but I think at the minimum they imply the ability to be reconfigured for a large number of physical tasks that involve interactions with an environment.
  • monkmartinez 9y ago
    Yes. The dishwasher (DW) does not complete the entire dishwashing circuit/task, but certainly a major portion. That is, the DW can not load or unload itself generally, but it can sanitize, wash and dry among other tasks. Thus, meeting the general definition of a robot: carry out a complex set of instructions/actions automatically once programmed.
  • liotier 9y ago
    My feeling is that the "robot" concept requires feedback loops and flexibility to adapt to a wide range of situations. As technology progresses, the required amount of magic required to warrant the title is a moving target.
    • RyanMcGreal 9y ago
      In that case, is my clothes dryer a robot? In addition to its timed dry setting, it also has a feedback setting in which it runs until the clothes inside have reached a (configurable) specified level of dryness, at which point it turns off.
      • liotier 9y ago
        At some point in the past, such automatic intelligence would have stunned the populace - but nowadays nothing short of sorting, folding and piling on the clothing shelves would let the punters cry "robot !"
• jdietrich 9y ago
  AI that works is just software; a robot that works is just a machine. A modern tractor is a phenomenally complex machine, capable of fully autonomous operation with millimetre precision. The system is guided by a complex set of 3D soil maps based on moisture holding capacity, compaction and texture, root formation and a multitude of other factors. Each square foot of field receives precisely controlled amounts of water, fertiliser and pesticide. Nobody calls it robotics or AI, because it works.
  • deleted 9y ago
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• radiorental 9y ago
  Define Robot.. Would you consider the relay in your internet connected smart bulb a robot? Maybe it needs to also move to be considered... Could the remote controlled computer and motor that pushes your car window up and down be considered a robot? Maybe it needs some AI then... What about the Nest brain to your house that switches all manner of things on and off to you liking? Semi autonomous teslas, vending machines, drones, roombas, parking garage entries, energy efficient elevators.... Robots are fundamentally control systems, and they are absolutely everywhere. They just don't look like a T-800 (o;