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Do You Love Me? [video]

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Re: Do You Love Me? [video]

#301

Post by sidibe »

vncecartersknee wrote: post #247
jnurmine wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was born cynical and I'm proud of it, so apologies to Boston Dynamics and others, but these things will absolutely be used as war bots and automation surrogates once the time is ripe. Even so, yes, these robots are truly engineering marvels and I wholeheartedly applaud the team for their hard work! I just think that squinting the eyes slightly past the "search and rescue", the war applications of this kind of techn…

Do you know how much berry/fruit pickers get paid? or pizza delivery people? It will be a LONG time before it's more economical for a robot to do it I think

It'll happen very quickly when they're good enough. As you hire more fruit pickers or pizza delivery people the next one costs the same or is more expensive, opposite for robots. Especially since the cost will mostly go into prototypes and research.

As soon as self-driving cars really work as well as Uber drivers for example, they're not going to roll out super-gradually just because the very first cars cost billions to develop and $200k a piece.

Re: Do You Love Me? [video]

#302

Post by dmkolobov »

bozzcl wrote: post #87

I love how there were people in the upper floor just walking by without even looking. "Oh, the robots are dancing again." In between the advances in "holographic" displays (not quite as sci-fi as we would want, but they are progressing), commercial space flight, cybernetic prosthetics, CRISPR and this... we are living in the future. It's amazing. It makes me a little sad more people are not aware of the ridiculously…

I used to read pop-sci mags and get excited about the latest advancements in X, but nowadays I feel one of two things about X:

1. Neither I, nor my friends will ever be able to afford X

2. X is going to make my life worse

Usually I feel both.

Re: Do You Love Me? [video]

#303

Post by joe_the_user »

dmkolobov wrote: post #302
bozzcl wrote: post #87

I love how there were people in the upper floor just walking by without even looking. "Oh, the robots are dancing again." In between the advances in "holographic" displays (not quite as sci-fi as we would want, but they are progressing), commercial space flight, cybernetic prosthetics, CRISPR and this... we are living in the future. It's amazing. It makes me a little sad more people are not aware of the ridiculously…

I used to read pop-sci mags and get excited about the latest advancements in X, but nowadays I feel one of two things about X: 1. Neither I, nor my friends will ever be able to afford X 2. X is going to make my life worse Usually I feel both.

Plus

"X is never quite what it seems"

Re: Do You Love Me? [video]

#304

Post by qayxc »

Element_ wrote: post #151
ve55 wrote: post #138

It's hard to believe that they were acquired for 'only' 1.1B, given the valuations we have seen of many other companies recently.

I totally agree, tech valuations this year are staggering, yet this company is only valued at 1.1bn even as they have started commercializing their spot robot. It seems like their robots could automate the truck-to-door problem with automated home deliveries. I guess we must be missing something...

> I guess we must be missing something...

There's a whole ton of unsolved problems:

- no true autonomy in chaotic/dynamic environments

- powering these machines for longer timespans is currently impossible (batteries endurance is measured in minutes, not hours)

- high skill level required for operating these machines (again - they're not autonomous in the slightest)

- paradox of complexity: it's easier to genetically engineer tomatoes that can withstand falling to the ground and being swept into a box than it is to engineer a machine that can identify and carefully pick ripe tomatoes as fast, as reliably and as cheap as a human worker

- motion planning and navigating unmapped environments is largely unsolved

- specialised machines are cheaper, more reliable and readily available: it's often more beneficial to modify the process than to program a generalised machine to perform human tasks, e.g. washing machines and dish washers don't need actual hands and tumble dryers don't need to use clothes lines yet all three work fine/better than the human version of the process

- AI safety is still in its infancy (even in the context of "just" motion planning and navigation); there's no such thing as tried and tested safety protocols for fully autonomous robots

- the state of the software (in terms of autonomy) is way behind the state of the hardware

- even Spot is for the most part still just a super low-volume solution looking for a problem

Re: Do You Love Me? [video]

#305

Post by THE_PUN_STOPS »

GhostVII wrote: post #80

It's interesting how in manufacturing (and other industries with lots of automation) we are trying to move away from humans as much as possible, while Boston Dynamics is trying to replicate humans as much as possible. Of course there will always be cases where we want to send a robot into an environment designed for humans (ex. firefighting) so there is value in humanoid robots, but it's interesting to me that we are…

Look at their product lines--Spot and Handle are the furthest things from humanoid. They've also done some static robot arms.

Atlas is their only active humanoid platform, which they've stated is mainly a research platform just for the sake of advancing robotics and pushing the limits.

Re: Do You Love Me? [video]

#306

Post by the_cat_kittles »

neilpanchal wrote: post #106

I am a huge fan of spartan-like no-bullshit brutalist approach towards their marketing/PR: - No studio setup, just their lab - No artificial lighting - No fucks given about hiding the mess - Robots going through surgery in the background - Song is classy af IMO - Can see the camera man - Can see the engineers/employees - Framing/cinematography isn't as polished (this is a feature, not a bug) - Chipped paint, beaten u…

this is maybe a mean sounding comment, but its what i would have appreciated hearing in response to my own thinking along your lines- you sound like a total mark. i have this single comment to go on, so obviously im extrapolating. but don't let a company's marketing ever fool you into thinking you know anything about them.

Re: Do You Love Me? [video]

#307

Post by mabbo »

brushfoot wrote: post #262
mabbo wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So what's the main barrier to using these industrially? In an industrial setting, a purpose-built robot will outdo these robots, or a human, at nearly all tasks. And whatever these things are doing, likely a human can do it better with a little bit of training- that's low capital cost compared to these robots. Carrying things around? Conveyor belts. Picking things up? Robot arms. Going up and down stairs? Elevators…

> The only real purpose I can see for these things is being able to travel quickly in rough terrain This reminds me of the (alleged) Tom Watson quote: "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." These robots will be everywhere in twenty years. The cost and the software aren't there yet, but it's only a matter of time. Flexibility and time to market will beat purpose-built robots in many cases once the…

> These robots will be everywhere in twenty years.

Doing what? What can a generalist robot do that a task specific robot can't do better, faster, and cheaper?

I'll be happy to be wrong- they're really neat- but I spent 7 years in the Operations tech division at Amazon, working in warehouses especially, and I don't see any need for these robots vs alternative options.

Re: Do You Love Me? [video]

#308

Post by mattmcknight »

GavinMcG wrote: post #291
fermienrico wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you think benefits won’t spread? We’re on track to producing vaccines by the billions, the biggest mobilization and logistical effort in the history of mankind. Good luck buying a vaccine and cutting the line, even if you have $10k to spare. I think the risk that the wealthiest few will rule the world is largely misplaced and overblown. We’ve lifted millions out of poverty and made tremendous progress in l…

Even prior to the pandemic, real wages were stagnant for decades. Wealth inequality has been a growing problem since before many of us have been alive, at this point. We are definitely making progress in absolute terms, but there is plenty of good reason to be concerned about the benefits spreading in general, and particularly when we're talking about technologies to replace labor.

>Even prior to the pandemic, real wages were stagnant for decades.

This is not true from a global perspective. In addition, there has been significant immigration, where people are are entering the economy at the bottom (increasing inequality in a country, while they are making more than they would where they came from). This is not to say things couldn't be better, but the economy is global, and nationalistic perspectives presume a closed system.

Re: Do You Love Me? [video]

#309

Post by jedimastert »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #298

As someone who is on record saying this wouldn't be possible, I'm pretty amazed (I believe the technical term is gobsmacked) :-). That said, the ability to manage this with essentially "shadow mode" is somewhat less impressive than having the kinematics "built in" so to speak. As I understand it (and correct me if you have more recent data!) the robots are programmed by using a person wearing an articulated sensor ne…

I'm going to take an educated guess that using mo-cap data wouldn't work, simply because the weight distributions of people and the BD robots are completely difference.

If I had to take a guess, I'd say that they were given a timeline of locations of extremities and chest/trunk and the magic sauce took care of how to distribute the weight to make it work, like a footprint chart

Re: Do You Love Me? [video]

#310

Post by fermienrico »

GavinMcG wrote: post #291
fermienrico wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you think benefits won’t spread? We’re on track to producing vaccines by the billions, the biggest mobilization and logistical effort in the history of mankind. Good luck buying a vaccine and cutting the line, even if you have $10k to spare. I think the risk that the wealthiest few will rule the world is largely misplaced and overblown. We’ve lifted millions out of poverty and made tremendous progress in l…

Even prior to the pandemic, real wages were stagnant for decades. Wealth inequality has been a growing problem since before many of us have been alive, at this point. We are definitely making progress in absolute terms, but there is plenty of good reason to be concerned about the benefits spreading in general, and particularly when we're talking about technologies to replace labor.

Agreed about fixing wages. I’m left-centrist and I find some of the extreme Marxism after the pandemic concerning. That’s what I’m rebutting against. I’m strongly against UBI, but I want high taxes for anyone making over $X. X is open for debate. I’d like temporary UBI (6 months, that’s what we have currently with unemployment benefits) + free apprenticeship like training so people can get back on employment. UBI is a bad idea IMO. Imagine losing your job as a waitress but you can learn electronics, perhaps get a technician job with government’s help.
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