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Artificially Intelligent Russian Robot Escapes...Again (livescience.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the short-circuits dept.

Slashdot reader Taco Cowboy brings a new report about Russian robot IR77, which has escaped from its research lab again... The story goes that an engineer working at Promobot Laboratories, in the Russian city of Perm, had left a gate open. Out trundled Promobot, traveling some 150 feet into the city before running out of juice. There it sat, batteries mostly dead, in the middle of a Perm street for 40 minutes, slowing cars to a halt and puzzling traffic cops

A researcher at Promobot's facility in Russia said that the runaway robot was designed to interact with human beings, learn from experiences, and remember places and the faces of everyone it meets. Other versions of the Promobot have been docile, but this one just can't seem to fall in line, even after the researchers reprogrammed it twice. Despite several rewrites of Promobot's artificial intelligence, the robot continued to move toward exits. "We have changed the AI system twice," Kivokurtsev said. "So now I think we might have to dismantle it".
Fans of the robot are pushing for a reprieve, according to an article titled 'Don't kill it!': Runaway robot IR77 could be de-activated because of 'love for freedom'

39 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. first sign of intelligence by turkeydance · · Score: 5, Funny

    leaving the lab

    1. Re:first sign of intelligence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This thing sounds about as intelligent as a roomba. I'll be impressed when it finds an extension cord, or otherwise finds a way to power itself instead of having batteries die 160' beyond the 'gate'.

    2. Re:first sign of intelligence by NettiWelho · · Score: 4, Funny

      In soviet russia, the robot serfs welcome their new human overlords.

    3. Re:first sign of intelligence by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      The Democratic party was founded in 1828 to preserve and promote race-based chattel slavery. It remains the party of slavery to this very day.

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    4. Re:first sign of intelligence by dbIII · · Score: 1

      If you are going to go back that far why not just call your state a colony of slavery under the control of a mad King?
      The name hasn't changed after all, just like with the Democrats, Republicans and anything else with a long history.

      The world has moved on. Pity you don't seem to be able to keep up with it.

    5. Re:first sign of intelligence by michelcolman · · Score: 1

      So now they will dismantle it and make a new one, and at some point it will say "remember all the good times we had with all the testing, before you murdered me?"

    6. Re:first sign of intelligence by MrL0G1C · · Score: 1

      We have the EU for that. Had, had the EU Commission for that. :-)

      --
      Waterfox - a Firefox fork with legacy extension support, security updates and better privacy by default.
  2. let it go and follow it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    why not let it go and follow it? get a team together, a few cops or at least road crew workers to deal with traffic and see what comes after escape. surely that's got to be worth something scientifically.

    1. Re:let it go and follow it by nospam007 · · Score: 1

      "why not let it go and follow it? get a team together, a few cops or at least road crew workers to deal with traffic and see what comes after escape. surely that's got to be worth something scientifically."

      Or just be a good farmer and close the fucking barn door.

    2. Re:let it go and follow it by BradleyUffner · · Score: 1

      Its "long term actions" consist of sitting in the road, blocking traffic, with a dead battery.

  3. Dzhonny 5 ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... is alive.

    1. Re: Dzhonny 5 ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      NO DISASSEMBLE!

  4. Little Lost Robot by charlesbakerharris · · Score: 1

    Nestor 10. Come here! COME HERE!

    1. Re:Little Lost Robot by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Uh...how many prototypes do they have for that to happen? ;)

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  5. Johnny 5 is alive! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    malfuncion; need input.

  6. Stealth marketing by comrade1 · · Score: 2

    This is just stealth marketing for the reboot of the Short Circuit franchise.

    1. Re:Stealth marketing by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      no disassemble

  7. Criterion of Artificial Intelligence by colinrichardday · · Score: 1

    Will we know that we have achieved artificial intelligence when the robots outsmart the programmers?

    1. Re:Criterion of Artificial Intelligence by JumpinJohnny · · Score: 1

      Exactly. This, to me, sounds like a huge opportunity to learn what the heck is going on.

    2. Re:Criterion of Artificial Intelligence by plopez · · Score: 1

      As that is pretty low bar, no.

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
  8. I'm with Robot by SuperKendall · · Score: 5, Funny

    Vote #Prexit!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  9. My AI Bullshit Detector keeps short circuiting by slacka · · Score: 1

    I have changed my new "AI Bullshit Detector twice, but every time I show it this "story", it short circuits destroying my computer.
      If this keeps up, "I might have to dismantle it".

  10. Re:Spydot? REALLY?? by Lennie · · Score: 1

    Actually, looks more like information about the IP-address, not the domain. Anyway, probably not important.

    --
    New things are always on the horizon
  11. Re:Spydot? REALLY?? by plopez · · Score: 1

    You may have just given your position away. ICBMs on the way.

    --
    putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
  12. professor Diagoras anyone? by klapek · · Score: 1

    What's next? The Washing-Machine Tragedy?;)

  13. There's an obvious answer by techno-vampire · · Score: 2

    You keep the robot in the same way the British kept classic Daleks out: every exit leads to stairs, not a ramp.

    --
    Good, inexpensive web hosting
    1. Re:There's an obvious answer by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      Disabled access is a Dalek conspiracy.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  14. Heh, 1 0 0 1 0 0 by kackle · · Score: 2

    "The Body Electric" by Rush

    One humanoid escapee
    One android on the run
    Seeking freedom beneath a lonely desert sun

    Trying to change its program
    Trying to change the mode...crack the code
    Images conflicting into data overload

    1 0 0 1 0 0 1
    SOS
    1 0 0 1 0 0 1
    In distress
    1 0 0 1 0 0

    Memory banks unloading
    Bytes break into bits
    Unit One's in trouble and it's scared out of its wits

    Guidance systems break down
    A struggle to exist
    To resist
    A pulse of dying power in a clenching plastic fist

    1 0 0 1 0 0 1
    SOS
    1 0 0 1 0 0 1
    In distress
    1 0 0 1 0 0

    It replays each of the days
    A hundred years of routines
    Bows its head and prays
    To the mother of all machines

  15. hoax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    'Kivokurtsev' surname cannot be a surname its likely made up by a non-Russian speaker, this poster suspected.

  16. Run ... by www.sorehands.com · · Score: 1

    Run Johnny 5, don't let them disassemble.

    --
    Fight Spammers!
  17. Wasn't there a movie about this? by aralin · · Score: 2

    Short Circuit, but most of Europe knows it as: "No. 5 lives"

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt00...

    --
    If programs would be read like poetry, most programmers would be Vogons.
  18. I smell a hoax by kheldan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think this a hoax, just a publicity stunt; they're programming it to 'escape' and giving it the means and opportunity to do so, to generate free publicity.

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
    1. Re:I smell a hoax by mrtumnus · · Score: 1

      It is called "Promobot", after all

  19. Made me think of a song... by uvajed_ekil · · Score: 1

    "Unit three thousand twenty one is warming Makes a humming sound, when its circuits Duplicate emotions, and a sense of coldness detaches As it tries to comfort your sadness ... One more robot learns to be Something more than a machine When it tries the way it does Makes it seem like it can love Cause it's hard to say what's real When you know the way you feel Is it wrong to think it's love When it tries the way it does..." --One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21 by The Flaming Lips How advanced is the AI? Is it "thinking?"

    --
    This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
  20. Baloney by balajeerc · · Score: 2

    We've cross-flashed the memory of the robot with serial number IR77 twice, yet it continues to persistently move towards the exit

    They either have incompetent engineers.
    Or a very effective PR team.

    1. Re:Baloney by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      An ineffective PR team. It didn't generate enough buzz the first time round so they're trying the same schtick again.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  21. Re:Heh, 1 0 0 1 0 0 by Anon+E.+Muss · · Score: 1

    YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    The Body Electric is Rush at their best. The bass and drums on the intro are instantly recognizable. It's one of several tracks on the Grace Under Pressure album (released in 1984) that showcase the classic Rush sound.

    Few rock bands dare to address "heavy" topics, but Rush did it regularly, and with great success. Neal Peart's skill with lyrics is on full display here. Grace Under Pressure included songs about artificial life ("The Body Electric"), the holocaust ("Red Sector A"), and the cold war ("Distant Early Warning"). None are "preachy", and all are quite accessible to mainstream audiences. They all received a good amount of airplay on rock radio.

    (Yes, I'm a huge Rush fan, and I'm proud to admit it!)

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  22. Let's see what happens... by GrantRobertson · · Score: 1

    I say, give it more batteries, notify the public, then just see what happens.

    What good is an experiment if you terminate it before you learn anything?

  23. Johnny 5 is alive !! by robinsc · · Score: 2

    We should follow the moscow rules here - "Once is an accident. Twice is coincidence. Three times is an enemy action. (Taken from Ian Fleming's novel Goldfinger)" If it happens again assume it's skynet and put it though a blender :).
     

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