Atlas robot does parkour • Hacker News Board

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#61

Post by mc32 » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:29 PM UTC

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #44

mc32 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they were ever deployed as auxiliaries to law enforcement, my hope would be any weapon would have to have a human approve a request. Robots should be able to swarm and restrain uncooperative suspects so there should be less need for lethality unless the perpetrator is an active threat against other people -a hostage situation, mass shooting, etc.

Arming law enforcement robots must be illegal- the whole point is that you can risk the robot to restrain a suspect, it doesn't need to defent itself like a police officer does.

It would be useful in circumstances they might work best. Hostage situation, mass shootings. We don’t want to have to wait till a human LEO shows up to incapacitate the perp.

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#62

Post by newaccount2021 » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:29 PM UTC

The middlebrow dismissal in this thread is galling.

This is AMAZING. Just like everything else Boston Dynamics does...and all HN has to offer is weird musings on Terminators.

You know, its okay to spend your days knocking out three-line Python PRs and still be wowed by people working at a much higher level...

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#63

Post by mrfusion » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:30 PM UTC

Any ideas why the physics looks slightly off like gravity is slightly too slow? Maybe it’s slow motion or sped up?

Or I’m wondering if it looks like both feet are off the ground when really only one is and supported by the other?

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#64

Post by tehwebguy » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:30 PM UTC

mc32 wrote: post #25

delgaudm wrote: post #8

I'm not a particularly pessimistic person in general, but I don't know ...this tech, while cool, feels like the precursor to a worse future in general. Maybe I've seen too much sci-fi, but these robots look like optimizing for future soldiers, law enforcement etc. Given all the other Self-Driving / Facial Recognition / Loss of Privacy / Deepfake / "AI is bad at recognizing $situation"-type posts, and as all these tec…

If they were ever deployed as auxiliaries to law enforcement, my hope would be any weapon would have to have a human approve a request. Robots should be able to swarm and restrain uncooperative suspects so there should be less need for lethality unless the perpetrator is an active threat against other people -a hostage situation, mass shooting, etc.

Probably all of our current policing problems come down to officer emotions & decision making so I'm neither pro-autonomous robot cop nor pro-robot cop as a police controlled tool

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#65

Post by mrfusion » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:31 PM UTC

delgaudm wrote: post #8

I'm not a particularly pessimistic person in general, but I don't know ...this tech, while cool, feels like the precursor to a worse future in general. Maybe I've seen too much sci-fi, but these robots look like optimizing for future soldiers, law enforcement etc. Given all the other Self-Driving / Facial Recognition / Loss of Privacy / Deepfake / "AI is bad at recognizing $situation"-type posts, and as all these tec…

Most bad stuff can more easily be done with drones. I wouldn’t worry about these guys. Just tie their legs together.

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#66

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:31 PM UTC

mc32 wrote: post #50

toomuchtodo wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Robots will be the new zip ties to restrain you while your rights are violated. It’s not a tech failure though, it’s a governance and accountability failure.

Do do we want more uniform enforcement via robot, or do we want more leeway for human LEOs? It used to be cops could make their own decisions on the spot about a subject (good or bad), now with cameras there is much much less ad-hoc decision making. Everyone gets booked. It’s a double edged sword. Depends on what we want.

[deleted]

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#67

Post by mrfusion » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:31 PM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #46

delgaudm wrote: post #8

I'm not a particularly pessimistic person in general, but I don't know ...this tech, while cool, feels like the precursor to a worse future in general. Maybe I've seen too much sci-fi, but these robots look like optimizing for future soldiers, law enforcement etc. Given all the other Self-Driving / Facial Recognition / Loss of Privacy / Deepfake / "AI is bad at recognizing $situation"-type posts, and as all these tec…

Boston Dynamics was initially DARPA funded and intended for military uses, so you're not wrong. The weird thing is that the more I study history, the more I think that the real dystopia started a century (and perhaps a couple millenia) before I was born, and we're just so adapted to it that we think it's normal. Take the "[Ro]bot" out of your headlines and those would be headlines from today, and if you ignore that t…

When and how did the real dystopia start?

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#68

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:31 PM UTC

prepend wrote: post #18

What can I do to defend myself against killer robots? Seriously, is there something simple that I can put in my glovebox of my car to use in case these robots start getting scary? Is there a simple household good that will work well against these, until they start explicitly shielding against stuff?

[deleted]

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#69

Post by Consultant32452 » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:33 PM UTC

delgaudm wrote: post #8

I'm not a particularly pessimistic person in general, but I don't know ...this tech, while cool, feels like the precursor to a worse future in general. Maybe I've seen too much sci-fi, but these robots look like optimizing for future soldiers, law enforcement etc. Given all the other Self-Driving / Facial Recognition / Loss of Privacy / Deepfake / "AI is bad at recognizing $situation"-type posts, and as all these tec…

Whenever they do these demos they never show them firing weapons. I guess they just haven't figured that out yet.

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#70

Post by tehwebguy » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:33 PM UTC

mc32 wrote: post #50

toomuchtodo wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Robots will be the new zip ties to restrain you while your rights are violated. It’s not a tech failure though, it’s a governance and accountability failure.

Do do we want more uniform enforcement via robot, or do we want more leeway for human LEOs? It used to be cops could make their own decisions on the spot about a subject (good or bad), now with cameras there is much much less ad-hoc decision making. Everyone gets booked. It’s a double edged sword. Depends on what we want.

Neither! Human LEOs in the US need to have fewer weapons and more accountability, they are currently virtually un-prosecutable. Even when cops commit a crime on camera it is extremely rare for them to be indicted.