Robots Are Trying To Pick Strawberries. So Far, They're Not Very Good At It (npr.org)

Robots have taken over many of America's factories. They can explore the depths of the ocean, and other planets. They can play ping-pong. But can they pick a strawberry? From a report: "You kind of learn, when you get into this -- it's really hard to match what humans can do," says Bob Pitzer, an expert on robots and co-founder of a company called Harvest CROO Robotics. (CROO is an acronym. It stands for Computerized Robotic Optimized Obtainer.) Any 4-year old can pick a strawberry, but machines, for all their artificial intelligence, can't seem to figure it out. Pitzer says the hardest thing for them is just finding the fruit. The berries hide behind leaves in unpredictable places. "You know, I used to work in the semiconductor industry. I was a development engineer for Intel, and it was a lot easier to make semiconductor chips," he says with a laugh.

Comments

Not my jobs

[rsilvergun]

well, not these robots (these ones are coming for Migrant farm workers jobs). There's been a huge push in the US to kick the migrant farm workers out, mostly it's racially motivated. Nobody in America really wants to pick strawberries for a living. Aside from it being awful work with low pay it's seasonal, meaning you can't have a stable family even if the pay was OK.

To be fair there's a lot of blue collar jobs (drywall, home repair, construction) that are also being done by illegal immigrants. As a tech worker who's seen his job prospects cut down by the H1-B program it's hard not to sympathize with a plumber seeing less work because anything bigger than a drain pipe is being done by contract firms that employee illegal labor.

Not a racial issue at all, issue of fairness

[SuperKendall]

There's been a huge push in the US to kick the migrant farm workers out, mostly it's racially motivated.

Wrong, as even you admit at the end of your post.

But even for labor that supposedly "no American will do" (which I find questionable since no-one has asked the huge homeless population of California if they'd be willing to try)... Even there, the issue is that if we did want to use really cheap labor from abroad - why can that labor not come in legally?

Lots of people do not like illegal immigrants not because of race, but because of them being here ILLEGALLY. They have jumped the line as it were over many, many people of the SAME RACE that are trying to get here legally. That's what many people dislike, they are fine with immigrants - but there is a process to go through to become one. Go through that and (almost) everyone will welcome you with open arms.

In fact many legal immigrants who came from Mexico have the same issue with illegal immigrants, they went to the trouble of coming in properly and see it as unfair someone else just gets to walk in.

Canada sure doesn't let just anyone in through the U.S.. Why should the U.S. not have as rigorous control over immigration as pretty much any country on Earth?

Re:Not a racial issue at all, issue of fairness

[SuperKendall]

A Mexican trying to enter to do house painting, furniture hauling, or construction labor, for example, cannot legally enter the USA.

Sure they can - if they apply for a visa.

If the U.S. issued more temporary work visas people would be supportive. That's the point, people are not against Mexicans, they are against criminals. Entering illegally makes you a criminal, full stop - but again, it makes you a line-jumper which most people find significantly worse.

They DON'T have intelligence

[UnknownSoldier]

All they have is algorithms, data, and a glorified table lookup.

There is no fucking intelligence in these machines.

If they _actually_ had intelligence they could figure out the process _themselves._

i.e.
How Smart Are Crows? | ScienceTake | The New York Times

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