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Robots are everywhere. We just don't call them robots. We call them dishwashers, CNC machines, STM machines, automatic welders, fabric cutting machines, etc,

by rmah 5y ago

Robots are everywhere. We just don't call them robots. We call them dishwashers, CNC machines, STM machines, automatic welders, fabric cutting machines, etc, etc. Sort of like we already have flying cars. They're called "helicopters".

khc 5y ago
> Sort of like we already have flying cars. They're called "helicopters". you cannot drive helicopters on the road, they are flying but not cars
rexreed 5y ago
When people think flying cars, they don't think of something without wheels that can only land in certain spots that requires years of training to operate that is significantly expensive to be outside of the reach of 99%. They think of the car that anyone of legal driving age with a reasonable amount of money that anyone with some income can purchase. No, helicopters are not flying cars. And no, dishwashers aren't what people would think of when they think of robots. Something that has a microprocessor in it isn't automatically a robot.
- stcredzero 5y ago
  When people think flying cars, they don't think something without wheels that can only land in certain spots that requires years of training to operate that is significantly expensive to be outside of the reach of 99%. I think if one eliminates the training requirement, reduces the cost, and increase the safety, then we don't need them to be road vehicles. Achieve the above, and we'll have flying taxis!
  - rexreed 5y ago
    If it weren't for many of the other problems of helicopters including convenience and noise. How many helicopters will fit in an IKEA parking lot? And how many will be able to bring back whatever you buy there? Extend that thought experiment a bit. You might be able to achieve the transportation of people in controlled circumstances, but not much else.
    - medium_burrito 5y ago
      You do realize small ducted fans are an order of magnitude louder than a helicopter, right? All those slick marketing videos omit that part.
- petra 5y ago
  Yes helicopters aren't flying cars. But if a machine automates 90% of a process, like a dishwasher, why shouldn't it be considered like a robot, say a 90% robot? Practically it does have the same effect.
  - tomp 5y ago
    A dishwasher is to a robot what a calculator is to a computer.
    - generalizations 5y ago
      Which means that a robot is something that has a property similar to the property of 'turing completeness' in computers.
    - rhizome 5y ago
      By that token, how well can a Boston Dynamics dogbot clean your dishes?
  - ALittleLight 5y ago
    Do you think of a washing machine or a dryer as a robot too?
    - petra 5y ago
      I think of them as machines that automated a certain task. So a robot substitute.
- q-big 5y ago
  > When people think flying cars, they don't think of something without wheels that can only land in certain spots that requires years of training to operate that is significantly expensive to be outside of the reach of 99%. You write down two points: 1. regulation 2. cost "Regulation" is not an engineering problem, but a hard and deeply political one. For "cost": When a lot of regulation comes down, the possible market size increases by a lot and it begins to make economic sense to invest lots of engineering ressources into cutting costs down by a lot (I do believe this is possible). Then helicopters will even perhaps transform into something that is much more akin to flying cars.
melling 5y ago
We probably don’t call a dishwasher a robot because it’s not That is the only consumer facing device you mentioned. I know we have industrial robots, so I’ll skip debating where we draw the line. Once we get to the Apple II of home robots, consumer spending will fuel the rapid development, and “robots”, will become more intelligent and agile
- burnished 5y ago
  Not the person you responded to, but I think I see where they are coming from and agree: we don't call them robots because we are used to them and have a specific name. I don't see how they aren't robots, unless we are defining robots as having a specific kind of manipulator.
  - melling 5y ago
    Aren’t we discussing robots vs machines? https://www.toyota.co.jp/en/kids/faq/i/01/01/ https://www.toyota.co.jp/en/kids/faq/i/01/01/
    - criddell 5y ago
      I think their point was that if the dishwasher was made so that mechanical hands picked up a dish, washed it, rinsed it, dried it, then set it aside before picking up the next dish and doing the same, we would call that a robot.
nitwit005 5y ago
The definition of a robot tends to be fairly fuzzy. If you look up the Websters definition (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/robot https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/robot), and ignore the first definition about being in human form, you get: > a device that automatically performs complicated, often repetitive tasks (as in an industrial assembly line) Which basically hinges on "complicated". I suspect most people wouldn't count a dishwasher, washing machine, etc.

by rmah 5y ago

khc 5y ago

> Sort of like we already have flying cars. They're called "helicopters". you cannot drive helicopters on the road, they are flying but not cars

rexreed 5y ago

When people think flying cars, they don't think of something without wheels that can only land in certain spots that requires years of training to operate that is significantly expensive to be outside of the reach of 99%. They think of the car that anyone of legal driving age with a reasonable amount of money that anyone with some income can purchase. No, helicopters are not flying cars. And no, dishwashers aren't what people would think of when they think of robots. Something that has a microprocessor in it isn't automatically a robot.

stcredzero 5y ago
When people think flying cars, they don't think something without wheels that can only land in certain spots that requires years of training to operate that is significantly expensive to be outside of the reach of 99%. I think if one eliminates the training requirement, reduces the cost, and increase the safety, then we don't need them to be road vehicles. Achieve the above, and we'll have flying taxis!
- rexreed 5y ago
  If it weren't for many of the other problems of helicopters including convenience and noise. How many helicopters will fit in an IKEA parking lot? And how many will be able to bring back whatever you buy there? Extend that thought experiment a bit. You might be able to achieve the transportation of people in controlled circumstances, but not much else.
  - medium_burrito 5y ago
    You do realize small ducted fans are an order of magnitude louder than a helicopter, right? All those slick marketing videos omit that part.
petra 5y ago
Yes helicopters aren't flying cars. But if a machine automates 90% of a process, like a dishwasher, why shouldn't it be considered like a robot, say a 90% robot? Practically it does have the same effect.
- tomp 5y ago
  A dishwasher is to a robot what a calculator is to a computer.
  - generalizations 5y ago
    Which means that a robot is something that has a property similar to the property of 'turing completeness' in computers.
  - rhizome 5y ago
    By that token, how well can a Boston Dynamics dogbot clean your dishes?
- ALittleLight 5y ago
  Do you think of a washing machine or a dryer as a robot too?
  - petra 5y ago
    I think of them as machines that automated a certain task. So a robot substitute.
q-big 5y ago
> When people think flying cars, they don't think of something without wheels that can only land in certain spots that requires years of training to operate that is significantly expensive to be outside of the reach of 99%. You write down two points: 1. regulation 2. cost "Regulation" is not an engineering problem, but a hard and deeply political one. For "cost": When a lot of regulation comes down, the possible market size increases by a lot and it begins to make economic sense to invest lots of engineering ressources into cutting costs down by a lot (I do believe this is possible). Then helicopters will even perhaps transform into something that is much more akin to flying cars.

melling 5y ago

We probably don’t call a dishwasher a robot because it’s not That is the only consumer facing device you mentioned. I know we have industrial robots, so I’ll skip debating where we draw the line. Once we get to the Apple II of home robots, consumer spending will fuel the rapid development, and “robots”, will become more intelligent and agile

burnished 5y ago
Not the person you responded to, but I think I see where they are coming from and agree: we don't call them robots because we are used to them and have a specific name. I don't see how they aren't robots, unless we are defining robots as having a specific kind of manipulator.
- melling 5y ago
  Aren’t we discussing robots vs machines? https://www.toyota.co.jp/en/kids/faq/i/01/01/ https://www.toyota.co.jp/en/kids/faq/i/01/01/
  - criddell 5y ago
    I think their point was that if the dishwasher was made so that mechanical hands picked up a dish, washed it, rinsed it, dried it, then set it aside before picking up the next dish and doing the same, we would call that a robot.

nitwit005 5y ago

The definition of a robot tends to be fairly fuzzy. If you look up the Websters definition (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/robot https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/robot), and ignore the first definition about being in human form, you get: > a device that automatically performs complicated, often repetitive tasks (as in an industrial assembly line) Which basically hinges on "complicated". I suspect most people wouldn't count a dishwasher, washing machine, etc.