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Bill Gates on Robots

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the i-for-one-welcome-our-robot-overlords dept.

mstaj noted that Bill Gates has an article in January edition of Scientific American A Robot in Every Home."Imagine being present at the birth of a new industry. It is an industry based on groundbreaking new technologies, wherein a handful of well-established corporations sell highly specialized devices for business use and a fast-growing number of start-up companies produce innovative toys, gadgets for hobbyists and other interesting niche products. But it is also a highly fragmented industry with few common standards or platforms. Projects are complex, progress is slow, and practical applications are relatively rare. In fact, for all the excitement and promise, no one can say with any certainty when — or even if — this industry will achieve critical mass. If it does, though, it may well change the world."

11 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. Here's wondering... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why they printed an article by Bill Gates rather than one of the hundreds of professional robotics researchers in the country.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:Here's wondering... by Harmonious+Botch · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why they printed an article by Bill Gates rather than one of the hundreds of professional robotics researchers in the country.

      Because he has the people to collect info from experts and summarize it for him. And he has the cash and marketing clout to make it happen.

    2. Re:Here's wondering... by samkass · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That was my exact reaction, too. I thought Scientific American generally got input from experts in the field, and Bill Gates does not qualify as an expert in robotics. (I'd argue he doesn't qualify as an expert in Software Engineering, either.) Keep the Bill Gates articles in BusinessWeek and keep Scientific American as a forum for the experts to write layman-accessible articles. And if you want to discuss robotics, visit NREC at CMU, MIT, Honda, or one of the other myriad companies in the US, Japan, and around the world that actually know something on the topic.

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      E pluribus unum
    3. Re:Here's wondering... by UnknowingFool · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I read the article in the magazine. It was a rather rosy assessment of the future of robotics. Bill was comparing the microprocessor revolution that enabled PCs to be in every home and seeing how the latest advancements in microprocessors and sensors would someday do the same thing for robotics.


      While sensors and raw computing power have become more powerful and accessible, I felt the article did not address the problem of AI. The current generations of robots: Roomba, DARPA self driving car, have very limited functionality. To do what Gates proposed, the next generation of robots will have to have much more intelligence. This brings to mind Asimov's 3 laws. It's one thing for your robotic sweeper to be very dumb. The worst thing it could do if it went haywire is it would chase your pet around. It's another thing for your medicine dispensing robot to give you the wrong medication.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    4. Re:Here's wondering... by larkost · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I do agree that Scientific American is not what I remember from my childhood, but it is still a lot better than Popular Science. I subscribe to both (PopSci more as a filler magazine). The January issue is still waiting for me to make the time for it, but I do think that Bill Gates is the wrong author for a generalized article.

      But I do think you are looking at the wrong magazine if you are looking for peer-reviewed articles in SciAm. Even in their heyday they were not a peer-reviewed place. Instead they are a place where experts from different scientific disciplines write articles that people outside their disciplines can read. Usually there is a good attempt to make those articles reflect more than just the authors bent on that discipline, but that has never been a focus (look at the String Theory articles as evidence of that). If you are looking for peer-reviewed rigor, then go to one of the specialized journals.

      Even given that, SciAm is a long way from being advertisements. These are specialists writing articles that will never go on their CV's, and at best will help them sell general-reading books if they ever write them. These people deserve more respect than you are showing their work.

    5. Re:Here's wondering... by Locutus · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yup, sure looks like Microsoft purchased advertising space for the Bill Gates marketing piece. The content is simplistic and naive while he goes on and on about Microsofts new robotics effort. And putting Mundie on the project just stinks of opposing current GNU/Linux open source efforts in robotics.

      BTW, notice the ads for Microsofts 3D rebotics kit?

      Too bad they didn't mention the opensource 3D robotics simulator called Simbad( http://simbad.sourceforge.net/ ).

      LoB

      --
      "Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
  2. Many robots in our homes already by davidwr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let's see...

    Roomba.
    Robotic multi-disk CD changer.
    "Soft-touch" tape deck, VCR, CD and DVD players, and anything else that sucks in your disk or tape before playing then spits it back out at you when it's done.
    Vintage-1980s Macintosh floppy drives.
    Toy robots including remote-control cars for the kiddies of all ages.

    And the list goes on.

    The robots in your home are hiding in plain sight.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  3. Not to wonder! by ScentCone · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why they printed an article by Bill Gates rather than one of the hundreds of professional robotics researchers in the country.

    Because it's Scientific American (with a very wide, cross-discpline, and NON-discpline readership and popular web site), not the Journal Of Extremely Focused Niche Robotics Researchers (which would have the same number of subscribers as it does contributors, because it would be the same people). Bill's name is universally known, and guarantees a certain amount of commentary (such as is happening right here). Plus, he's got umpty-billions to invest, and is investing in this very area, and that really, really matters.

    And, of course, the people you're mentioning already publish, all the time. And if you want to seek out their thoughts, you can. This is the sort of material that generates interest among people who might not otherwise really think about it. It's sort of like Pamela Anderson talking about free range chicken farming practices, except less ... Pamela-ish. And, of course, Pamela's never farmed a chicken, whereas Bill's actually looked at some code here and there, and already has an army of 'bots.

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    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  4. Forget Microsoft... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I would trust Lego to get the mass consumer robotics done right.

  5. Bill is right by MobyDisk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A few years ago, I left a good software development job to work as a contractor, because I I believed that the Next Big Thing(tm) would be robotics. (My boss laughed at me.) Japan is waaay ahead of the rest of the world on this, and they will be the pioneers. Years ago, Bill Gates admitted that he missed the Internet as the Next Big Thing(tm) and Microsoft suffered for it. He isn't making the same mistake again. He is trying to position Microsoft to be _the_ provider of software for this new class of machines, just like when PCs came around. If he is right (which I think he is) this market will do what PCs did in the mainframe era, and if he has Microsoft software on each of them then he wins big time.

  6. There's only *ONE* thing that's guaranteed... by pandrijeczko · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...when there's a robot in every home, pornography will somehow be involved.

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    Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.