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Google's Eric Schmidt Says People Want Dish-Washing Robots To Clean Up the Kitchen More Than Any Other Kind (cnbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the priorities dept.

There is nothing that people want robots to be able to do more than to wash the dishes, according to Alphabet Chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt. From a report: "When you ask a person what they would like a robot to do, the thing that they would like more than anyone else, is clean up the dishes in the kitchen," the billionaire Google executive says speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum. "That is literally the number one request. And I say this having done this exhaustively," he says. Though you may dream of a robot dishwasher, don't hold your breath for it to happen in the immediate future. "That turns out to be an extraordinarily difficult problem," says Schmidt.

4 of 277 comments (clear)

  1. Wait by fyngyrz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    oogle's Eric Schmidt Says People Want Dish-Washing Robots To Clean Up the Kitchen More Than Any Other Kind

    Well, that they admit to, anyway. Sex robots will be #1 on people's "want lists", count on it. Once they're any good.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    1. Re:Wait by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Informative

      Well, not everyone is so hard up in getting a date/spouse as are /.ers.

      I have a spouse. I also have a sexbot. They are not mutually exclusive. So why do I have a sexbot? My wife bought it for me before she went on a 4 month business trip overseas. I told her it wasn't necessary, and that I could stay on the porch without any technological help, but she insisted. She picked out the Sai model, which actually looks similar to her.

      She is back from her trip, but the sexbot is still nice for when she isn't "in the mood". She has an appetite for about 3 times per week, and I prefer about twice that. So the doll makes up the difference.

  2. It takes only 5 minutes to load a dishwasher by pikine · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't know what to make of this. Either people are too lazy to even load a dishwasher and just litter the plates all over their house, or maybe there really is not much robots can do for us because our basic needs are already fulfilled by simple household appliances.

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    I once had a signature.
    1. Re:It takes only 5 minutes to load a dishwasher by Zarhan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's not the dishes - as you say, dishwasher is for that and loading is quick.

      How about cleaning up cooking utensils, pots, pans and so on (lots of these, e.g. cast-iron stuff, is not machine-washable). Cleaning up the oven, grill, leftovers, flour that has spread across all level surfaces, bits of dough. Cleaning up after your kids messes up the table by spraying her meal all over the table, or when you yourself accidentally knock that drink to the floor. Cleaning up the fridge after the cheese you've forgotten has decided to start evolving into a new life form. Collecting all the garbage (containers of food ingredients and/or take-out).

      Dishes are a solved problem. Cleaning up the other areas of kitchen: Not so much, apart from paying for a housekeeper.