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

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

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci...

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.