7 ms·

She did an amazing job and is talented for sure. I still absolutely hate those robots. This won't end well.

amelius 6y ago
People won't accept them on the streets, that's for sure. Perhaps they'd have a chance if they used a different form factor, though.
jjbinx007 6y ago
Without wishing to spoil anything, the robot video reminded me very much of the final scenes of the Battlestar Galactica reboot from a decade ago.
jcpham2 6y ago
Uncanny valley is so real.
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
> This won't end well. Care to expand on that? I'm very cynical about Boston Dynamics, given that - as far as I can tell / know - they've only done tech demos and again as far as I know don't have significant commercial success, or their robots doing things outside of (carefully orchestrated) tech demos. disclaimer: I never actually looked on their website for user cases or whatnot.
- typhon04 6y ago
  I think the dog-like robot - Spot is commercial. SpaceX are using one to asses things on their launch pad. But I guess it's truly a difficult problem and they aren't rushing it to market before is good and save enough. Which if they have the funding I think is a good approach.
  - qayxc 6y ago
    Spot is a solution in search of a problem. SpaceX are using one because I think simply because someone thought it'd be cool. You can remotely inspect a launch pad without shelling out $75k+ using RC cars and drones, for example. It's much cooler and better for the company's overall image, though, if you use a Spot robot. PR is a thing after all and using Spot fits perfectly. I seriously doubt there's any difficulty with safety or "being good enough", as I've yet to see an application for Spot that couldn't be done just as well by conventional already existing means. BD is a group of enthusiasts that build cool robots, not a company that primarily develops robotic solutions.
- Shivetya 6y ago
  Initially they will be a curiosity; robots in the public in general; but public perception is a tricky thing. There will be people absolutely terrified by their presence but some of this can be mitigated by how the robot looks; the more dexterous it is I am willing to bet will make it more scary to some. however the real bugaboo begins when one is used wrong regardless of where that occurs. like facial recognition we are going to need some serious regulations on how law enforcement uses these. I don't expect issues with fire and rescue but they would get secured by the same laws. As in, if they end up in use to secure assailants and there is an injury to that target or worse bystanders public reception will tank quickly. Let alone if robots ever got employed against protestors. that perception will change radically regardless in the world where it happens because not all governments respect the rights of their citizens to the same degree and it becomes only a matter of time before abuse happens and its film. on a side note, we certainly have enough movies and television presentation of the bad uses of robots; though most if cyborg type; to give people pause but will it give lawmakers pause?
  - visarga 6y ago
    It's not something you can simply outlaw. Progress won't stop, those who oppose it just get left behind. The progress of technology is a force we don't have control over. When writing, the engine or electronics get invented everyone has to get onboard.
- yarcob 6y ago
  As soon as they make a usable remote control for that robot the US military is going to buy a bunch of them and attach machine guns and use them to shoot up "suspected terrorists". Looking at what the US military has been doing with drones, that scenario doesn't seem that far fetched.
  - XorNot 6y ago
    Conversely an army of non-sapient robots would have a lot more options for dealing with belligerents. A human has to fire back when threatened because they don't want to die. A robot can take the hit, and risk being destroyed, because we can build another one.
    - eeZah7Ux 6y ago
      Judging by the use of drones for "extrajudicial" assassination, the narrative of robots as merciful weapons sounds dubious at best.
      - XorNot 6y ago
        A drone at 2 miles up isn't arresting anyone.
        eeZah7Ux 6y ago
        Interesting comparison, in times of militarized trigger-happy police...
        XorNot 6y ago
        Which again, a robot has no need or ability to be.
      - bradyd 6y ago
        Police in the US have already used a robot to execute a suspect after a sniper killed 5 police officers. https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/8/12129348/dallas-shooting-bomb-robot https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/8/12129348/dallas-shooting-b...
- pegasus 6y ago
  I have the same feeling that antropomorphizing robots these way is a dangerous direction to head in. We are intentionally confusing ourselves into thinking they are something other than they are.
- grkvlt 6y ago
  their website has an online shop [0] where you can purchase the things and have them shipped to you, to (ab) use as desired - so hardly 'only (carefully orchestrated) tech demos' any more. 0. https://shop.bostondynamics.com/spot https://shop.bostondynamics.com/spot
mrfusion 6y ago
We need the three laws of robotics now!
- unixhero 6y ago
  Now!
- mkl 6y ago
  Totally impractical. You'd need human level general AI before they could be interpreted and applied, and as Asimov's stories show, they're plenty fallible even with that. These robots know roughly where they are, what positions their limbs are in, how balanced they are, and what movement they should do next. That's about it. They cannot understand Asimov's three (*four) laws, or even a single sentence of English, and have no choice over their own actions as a whole.
0x0203 6y ago
I think that unfortunately, when it comes to the public perception, that the movie Terminator did to robotics and AI what Jaws did to the Great White shark. This seems to have permeated western culture in a way that makes it very difficult to have much serious and honest discussion about the technology and I suspect is actively holding the field back. My perception is that in other countries, like Japan for example, they have a very different perspective on what these technologies can do for them and they seem to be much more embracing of it, rather than scared of it. Both here and anywhere else the Boston Dynamics robots are shown off, half of the comments always come back to the "scary robots" that will take your jobs and murder your family. I wish we could hit a big reset button on how the public at large perceives robots because I personally think that there is a lot of benefit to be harvested here, for the true benefit of mankind.
- thatguy0900 6y ago
  Boston dynamics itself was started with military funding. Robotics will be an industry with a lot of blood on its hands, even if it does do good as well.
  - tandr 6y ago
    It is unfortunate, but - Internet have started as an ARPA project. First rockets to space started with military funding. Question is... what are current goals of Boston Dynamics? Do they even see these robots used for non-military widely used scenarios - construction, medical care, first-responders etc? Are these things even possible for the things where cost is an important factor (unlike military, where cost is not that important)?

People won't accept them on the streets, that's for sure. Perhaps they'd have a chance if they used a different form factor, though.

jjbinx007 6y ago

Without wishing to spoil anything, the robot video reminded me very much of the final scenes of the Battlestar Galactica reboot from a decade ago.

jcpham2 6y ago

Uncanny valley is so real.

Cthulhu_ 6y ago

> This won't end well. Care to expand on that? I'm very cynical about Boston Dynamics, given that - as far as I can tell / know - they've only done tech demos and again as far as I know don't have significant commercial success, or their robots doing things outside of (carefully orchestrated) tech demos. disclaimer: I never actually looked on their website for user cases or whatnot.

typhon04 6y ago
I think the dog-like robot - Spot is commercial. SpaceX are using one to asses things on their launch pad. But I guess it's truly a difficult problem and they aren't rushing it to market before is good and save enough. Which if they have the funding I think is a good approach.
- qayxc 6y ago
  Spot is a solution in search of a problem. SpaceX are using one because I think simply because someone thought it'd be cool. You can remotely inspect a launch pad without shelling out $75k+ using RC cars and drones, for example. It's much cooler and better for the company's overall image, though, if you use a Spot robot. PR is a thing after all and using Spot fits perfectly. I seriously doubt there's any difficulty with safety or "being good enough", as I've yet to see an application for Spot that couldn't be done just as well by conventional already existing means. BD is a group of enthusiasts that build cool robots, not a company that primarily develops robotic solutions.
Shivetya 6y ago
Initially they will be a curiosity; robots in the public in general; but public perception is a tricky thing. There will be people absolutely terrified by their presence but some of this can be mitigated by how the robot looks; the more dexterous it is I am willing to bet will make it more scary to some. however the real bugaboo begins when one is used wrong regardless of where that occurs. like facial recognition we are going to need some serious regulations on how law enforcement uses these. I don't expect issues with fire and rescue but they would get secured by the same laws. As in, if they end up in use to secure assailants and there is an injury to that target or worse bystanders public reception will tank quickly. Let alone if robots ever got employed against protestors. that perception will change radically regardless in the world where it happens because not all governments respect the rights of their citizens to the same degree and it becomes only a matter of time before abuse happens and its film. on a side note, we certainly have enough movies and television presentation of the bad uses of robots; though most if cyborg type; to give people pause but will it give lawmakers pause?
- visarga 6y ago
  It's not something you can simply outlaw. Progress won't stop, those who oppose it just get left behind. The progress of technology is a force we don't have control over. When writing, the engine or electronics get invented everyone has to get onboard.
yarcob 6y ago
As soon as they make a usable remote control for that robot the US military is going to buy a bunch of them and attach machine guns and use them to shoot up "suspected terrorists". Looking at what the US military has been doing with drones, that scenario doesn't seem that far fetched.
- XorNot 6y ago
  Conversely an army of non-sapient robots would have a lot more options for dealing with belligerents. A human has to fire back when threatened because they don't want to die. A robot can take the hit, and risk being destroyed, because we can build another one.
  - eeZah7Ux 6y ago
    Judging by the use of drones for "extrajudicial" assassination, the narrative of robots as merciful weapons sounds dubious at best.
    - XorNot 6y ago
      A drone at 2 miles up isn't arresting anyone.
      - eeZah7Ux 6y ago
        Interesting comparison, in times of militarized trigger-happy police...
        XorNot 6y ago
        Which again, a robot has no need or ability to be.
    - bradyd 6y ago
      Police in the US have already used a robot to execute a suspect after a sniper killed 5 police officers. https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/8/12129348/dallas-shooting-bomb-robot https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/8/12129348/dallas-shooting-b...
pegasus 6y ago
I have the same feeling that antropomorphizing robots these way is a dangerous direction to head in. We are intentionally confusing ourselves into thinking they are something other than they are.
grkvlt 6y ago
their website has an online shop [0] where you can purchase the things and have them shipped to you, to (ab) use as desired - so hardly 'only (carefully orchestrated) tech demos' any more. 0. https://shop.bostondynamics.com/spot https://shop.bostondynamics.com/spot

mrfusion 6y ago

We need the three laws of robotics now!

unixhero 6y ago
Now!
mkl 6y ago
Totally impractical. You'd need human level general AI before they could be interpreted and applied, and as Asimov's stories show, they're plenty fallible even with that. These robots know roughly where they are, what positions their limbs are in, how balanced they are, and what movement they should do next. That's about it. They cannot understand Asimov's three (*four) laws, or even a single sentence of English, and have no choice over their own actions as a whole.

0x0203 6y ago

I think that unfortunately, when it comes to the public perception, that the movie Terminator did to robotics and AI what Jaws did to the Great White shark. This seems to have permeated western culture in a way that makes it very difficult to have much serious and honest discussion about the technology and I suspect is actively holding the field back. My perception is that in other countries, like Japan for example, they have a very different perspective on what these technologies can do for them and they seem to be much more embracing of it, rather than scared of it. Both here and anywhere else the Boston Dynamics robots are shown off, half of the comments always come back to the "scary robots" that will take your jobs and murder your family. I wish we could hit a big reset button on how the public at large perceives robots because I personally think that there is a lot of benefit to be harvested here, for the true benefit of mankind.

thatguy0900 6y ago
Boston dynamics itself was started with military funding. Robotics will be an industry with a lot of blood on its hands, even if it does do good as well.
- tandr 6y ago
  It is unfortunate, but - Internet have started as an ARPA project. First rockets to space started with military funding. Question is... what are current goals of Boston Dynamics? Do they even see these robots used for non-military widely used scenarios - construction, medical care, first-responders etc? Are these things even possible for the things where cost is an important factor (unlike military, where cost is not that important)?