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MIT AGI: Boston Dynamics [video]
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- Areading314 9y ago1/10 was hoping for the speaker to reveal himself as a robot at the end
- suyash 9y agoThanks for sharing this wonderful lecture. I would like to know why this guy's mission is to have Robotic Intelligence >= Human Intelligence. What is his reason behind that, he did not divulge. Any guesses?
- aje403 9y agoWhat's there to question? You're making assumptions by even asking his motives. Are you implying he should not be doing this ethically or something? Von Neumann responded to a quote from Oppenheimer lamenting the invention of the bomb: "Some people confess to the sin to take credit for it"
- rogeroga 9y agothat is a great quote, indeed that happens at all levels, sounds like a cover up for false modesty.
- mhb 9y agoIt's humblebrag's cousin - the shamebrag.
- joe_the_user 9y agoI skimmed the lecture after first ten minutes and as far as I can tell, while it seemed like it would be interesting to someone interested in what Boston Dynamics was doing, it doesn't really say anything about AGI beyond "we eventually want to do AGI and we think doing robot stuff well will get us there." If there's something I missed, could someone say. Since this is part of an MIT lecture series on AGI, I think the GP is sort-of justified in also asking where that part is.
- dwc 9y agoPretty much every conception of AGI is of greater than human intelligence, at least in some aspects. The reason? Otherwise why build it? Yes, there are cases where AGI as subhuman-level intelligence would have utility, but the remaining cases are far more numerous and have far more utility.
- goatlover 9y ago> but the remaining cases are far more numerous and have far more utility But why do we want to replace ourselves? Do we just want the machines to do everything for us? Take care of us like we're pets?
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- Daemon_Eater 9y agoDifferent people have different priorities, some subset of people must desire to be taken care of like pets. That said, the relationship does not have to have a master/pet dynamic to it. There are alternatives where ASI takes specific roles away from humanity (like various governmental, administrative, or legal roles), especially those roles where humans consistently fall short and failure has very negative consequences. The driving motivations for ASIs will determine what kind of relationship we have with them. They may all have the potential to lead to mass subjugation but, that isn't set in stone, we could end up as partners in a shared future. I for one hope they can fortify my deep solipsism with more detail, my own personal paradise Matrix. Or maybe they can just take care of me while I waste away on drugs, ensuring no negative externalities.
- gowld 9y agoThere are multiple dimensions to scaling. A large number of subhuman-intelligent agents can beat a small number of superhuman-intelligences (and vice versa, depending on specifics), and certainly beats not building anything.
- blhack 9y agoThere is a value to human life beyond just "how smart you are". >Otherwise why build it? Because it would be better to send robots into dangerous situations that it is to send human beings.
- kowdermeister 9y agoPossibly to make the world a better place.
- goatlover 9y agoFor the shareholders.
- aaron695 9y agoThis is actually a really good question. It's a good flag of spin. It seems absolutely not necessary until way way after robots have revolutionized society, without a expert commenting I say he doesn't get it or is just selling a product to naive consumers.
- rojobuffalo 9y agoWhen you specify that the robot should open the door, and then a human interferes, how do you ensure the robot doesn't yank the door abruptly to knock the human back or swing its arm into the human to clear that space?
- lainga 9y agoGive all the humans robot arms. Rules of nature, Jack!
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- fladrif 9y agoAsimov's three rules of robotics? Are those being implemented?
- zaroth 9y agoMarc actually discusses how safety is extremely challenging, e.g. people assume you can just have the robot freeze, but often freezing can cause more harm. So for now they actually do not let the robots operate in physical contact with humans. The closest they’ve come to testing the robots is working with a human to lift a stretcher. See: T=37:50
- derefr 9y ago> people assume you can just have the robot freeze, but often freezing can cause more harm. Is this true of humans as well, or is it something unique to robots with their hard shells and hydraulics? In other words, would freezing be a safe fallback strategy for a soft robot?
- namelost 9y agoIt's true of everything. If you freeze when you are not in equilibrium, you will... fall over. Maintaining equilibrium is an active process.
- emilga 9y agoVery cool lecture! It would be interesting to hear him speak about the pros and cons of different body plans. Are three or six legged robots useful, compared to four legged ones? What about multi-armed humanoid robots?
- zaroth 9y agoSomeone asked that question and he kinda punted on the answer. He said humanoid robots are theoretically useful for operating in spaces designed for humans, and also get orders of magnitude better responses from the public, but spreading out the motors and balancing tech in a quadruped gives much more space to work in. See: T=46min
- mooneater 9y agoInteresting: - mentions military application without further comment, then dwells on elder care - 21:05 robotics platform like "the android of robotics" - 38:50 struggling with safety - 48:00 "Im sure we will use learning before too long" Im surprised they arent using a lot of machine learning here.
- dirtshell 9y agoFor the vast majority of robotics and controls traditional methods often have the best (implementation + research)/time value. Using any kind of machine learning usually means a lot of research and implementation time for widely varying results. Maybe if you had some ML specialists that could accelerate implementation and direct you on the right path, ML approaches could become more popular. The simplest and most practical use of ML is in CV. I'd be surprised if they weren't doing some of that.
- Iv 9y agoThey aren't. You see QR code everywhere. I feel they are at the point I was before going into deep learning: they recognized the buzz pattern of an overhyped tech and won't believe it provides immediate gain until they try.
- CamperBob2 9y agoThe video also pairs well with the penultimate Black Mirror episode in the latest season (S4E5, "Metalhead").
- xchip 9y agoNice tiled floor, I guess that helps a bit with SLAM (just being jealous, great job!! :) )
- lopmotr 9y agoIt's excellent that they've got large scale practical commercial applications in mind, rather than the niche search and rescue which every university robot researcher seems to talk about as their imagined application.
- soheil 9y ago> Unfortunately, the above is the best available resolution of slides. Thanks for understanding. We're always learning and improving. Hmm something doesn't sit right with me on this one. It's not just slides, it's videos too. It seems like they're apologizing for a mistake they might have made as opposed to intentionally downscaled the videos. Is it just a coincidence that the first time some of these videos are shown (not all) they happen to be extremely low res?
- iandanforth 9y agoThe best thing about Boston Dynamics is that their robots don't work. Maybe spot-mini will but their track record is terrible and I'm thankful for it. I get the distinct impression that these self described 'badboys' would happily hand over a fully functional android to the military complete with gun mounts. There are a lot of great robotics companies to work for that are also deeply principled about doing good, this is not one of them.
- thematt 9y agoWhy do you say they don't work? The videos seem impressive.
- hitekker 9y agoThe GP works at an indirect competitor to Boston Dynamics. Since the invective lacks suevidence, we can assume it is based upon resentment and/or jealousy, i.e., “how dare their unweaponized, prototype tech be light-years ahead of our own tech! They’re unprincipled!”
- richard___ 9y agoExamples of such companies?
- abrichr 9y agoKindred.ai
- jlebrech 9y agowhat's evil about the military?
- GenericsMotors 9y agoThere's definitely something evil (extremely unethical?) about handing the decision/burden to take someone's life to machines. Also, I don't think your remark is a fair representation of the parent comment.
- mark_l_watson 9y agoI recommend the entire MIT course on AGI http://AGI.mit.edu http://AGI.mit.edu Great guest lecturers.