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A Chicken In Every Pot, A Robot In Every Home
Palm Addict writes "The New York Times report that "South Korea, the world's most wired country, is rushing to turn what sounds like science fiction into everyday life. The government, which succeeded in getting broadband Internet into 72 percent of all households in the last half decade, has marshaled an army of scientists and business leaders to make robots full members of society.""
It seems to me that even the smartest robots are still only about as intellectually capable as me and my roommates after a heavy night of drinking.
So naturally, the next step for them is to be made citizens. That way, they can't dodge the draft.
While they've already began using them for educational and military purposes, I somehow doubt that they will become useful anytime soon. They will be something used only by the government or by the rich until enough money is thrown in and research is done to turn them into anything worth considering.
Capitalism: When it uses the carrot, it's called democracy. When it uses the stick, it's called fascism.
Nobody likes to register so try this link.
I apologize for the karma whoring.
My work here is dung.
And not just the summary (as it was copied & pasted verbatim from the article), but the NYT.
I thought on reading the line " to make robots full members of society" that the article was talking about robot rights. However, the article is just about making plans for standard automation & borderline AI over the next 10 years.
I for one am going to await until this company is taken over by the rightful owners of that name before I bother to get excited by robots.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
The government, which succeeded in getting broadband Internet into 72 percent of all households in the last half decade
As a red blooded American, I say 'it can't be done.'
Pot in every home, Robot Chicken on TV.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
But to be honest, after reading the article, I am quite impressed. I did not know this. Take, for example: I'll come straight out with it. That is very impressive. However, as I have stated before, technology--while helpful--can cause problems as well. I mean, it's great that (from the article) "Two years ago, after the opposition-led National Assembly impeached President Roh Moo Hyun, a consensus began forming on the Internet that the move was politically motivated -- two hours after the vote took place, Mr. Chang said. That quickly led to mass demonstrations," he said. "That kind of thing had never happened in Korea before. Everyone is connected to everyone else, so issues spread very fast and kind of unpredictably." However, then you have incidents like this:
Honestly, I think South Korea might be moving a little too fast for its own good. People aren't getting a chance to adapt. But then again, who knows?
I thought the "Killer App" was where the robots go around shooting people...
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
Plus, it would really demoralize the insurgency. They know they can scare us off if they keep killing soldures, but you can never kill enough robots.
Obligatory:
Zapp: You see, the killbots have a preset kill limit; knowing their weakness, I sent wave after wave of my own men at them until they reached their limit and shut down.
Bender: It was a dark day for robotkind. Ahhhh, we can always build more killbots.
For security, the MD5 hash of this message and sig is 09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0.
I think the biggest concern is that machines are liable to be used to destructive ends by manipulative people. Right now machines with physical agency (like cars) have very little in the way of independent capability: they can't really function independently of a human operator. And machines which can function independently of an operator lack physical agency (like ATMs).
The problem with humanoid robots is that they combin independence with physical agency. Even putting the entire issue of AI aside, such machines could be extremely dangerous because they have the potential to be misdirected for destructive purposes by people. Imagine if a 12 year old kid or a terrorist could instruct a big SUV by remote control?
It's not so much humanoid robots that are the concern, but larger machines like vehicles that are a worry to me. Right now it is virutally impossible to remotely hack the controls of an airliner, for example, but if planes began to be made to follow instructions issued from less narrow sources of input - by voice or remote control - then the window for abuse opens dramatically.
As I said, I won't get into AI since that's way too big of an issue, but there is one more point worth thinking about, and that is human beings as robots. Where human beings are profoundly ignorant and very fearful, they are vulnerable to manipulation. That's where terrorists come from. From a certain perspective, suicide bombers are like robots that are being misguided by malevolent human manipulators. Since without highly advanced AI they will presumably be easier to manipulate than even the most ignorant person, robots with physical agency could very quickly become the tool of choice for terrorism.
A-Bomb
That South Korean robot can run slightly faster than I can. That ought to count for something. fbr
What I find interesting is that I have three kids, the eldest being four. They're going to grow up in a house where it's not considered unusual to have a robot pootling about the place doing domestic chores, whereas to my generation (I'm 34) that's still a "hey, cool!" thing. Nobody says "hey cool, you've got a washing machine!" anymore, at least no-one in the developed world (I'm in the UK).
I'm hoping that the Roomba is just the start of a number of domestic robots. I wouldn't mind one that could wash windows for example, both internal and external. Or a polishing robot. Or a mail-gaethering robot*, or preferable one robot capapble of doing all of it.
I would imaginethat by the time my kids are 34, domestic robots will be so common that even the phraseology will seem absolete. Sort of like your granny talking about the 'wireless', meaning something utterly different to what you mean by the wireless. They'd just be part of the normal experience of daily life. By getting kids used to the idea that there's nothing special about having a robot, such a day is hastened. And my floors get cleaned as well.
Cheers,
Ian
(*Forget the mail-gathering robot from the Hitchhiker's adventure game. I know about the mail-gathering robot from the Hitchhiker's adventure game. Damned babel fish machine...)
but before you mod this comment down, check out the facts
It would be good if they had robots to do the dirty work in Korea because as it stands, they think that is what women are for.
SLASHDOT: news for people who can't concentrate on work or have no life at all and got tired of yelling back at the TV.
It's funny how we are ready to protect robots but we still treat our closest genetic kin, other primates, as nothing more than cheap food ("bush meat") or lab rats.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Really it all boils down to one question. I don't see any problem here.
- I wouldn't mind if my sister married an ATM, for example, it would be really easy to beat him at poker and I'd have all the cash I wanted.
- And what's the problem with "Dog Poop Girl"? She needed the humiliation.
- And what's wrong with organizing mass demonstrations by IM? Already happens everywhere.
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"