WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS: Killer Robots

in #writing7 years ago (edited)


As Randy screams in South Park S09E08, “We didn’t listen!”

In that particular episode, he’s lamenting the damages of global warming, and the lack of interest or care his fellow man had taken to try and stop it. But there is an evermore present danger that the scientists of the world seem to be running at. It’s odd that some very relevant wisdom, in the discussion of science would come from The Bible, but here we are. 1 Corinthians says: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

And what CAN we do, that we shouldn’t? Killer robots.

Yeah, that sounds sensationalized, but as a person that has been following closely the news reports of the world’s scientists racing each other to our eventual destruction, there have been some glaring examples recently, that just aren’t getting enough attention.

To take a step back, for a second, the two main concerns with regards to artificial beings are Artificial Intelligence (AI) and indestructible robots of death. Much can be said about the advances and ethical concerns of AI and the singularity, but more terrifying is the recent news out of Boston Dynamics. It seems like every couple of months they release a video of their newest all purpose robot. First they climbed stairs, then we saw them stand up even when kicked and pushed (a wonderful propaganda video for the eventual angry robot consciousness) but then, this: 

https://youtu.be/aFuA50H9uek

After months of testing the stability of a robot dog, Boston Dynamics has now made one that they say, “…needs to be good at dealing with ‘disturbances’… and that may sometimes include pesky humans.”

The irony of the article is that when describing the main features of the “dog” like picking things up, and helping around the house, it notes that these are things that “many battlefield robots aren’t designed to do.”

Kinda sounds like they’re bring the battlefield right to our front door.  

What do you think?

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What is the run time on the battery, I just need to know how long I need to be able to run to wear it out. Got to get in shape.

Or we need to start developing anti-robot weaponry... Who's got funds?

I want one. Who wants one ?

Does it shot?

If robots get there citizenship like in Dubai they most probably will shoot.

This is cool, a way to keep your surroundings away from unwanted guest. Hope the device can properly identify faces and store up the data for recognition?

Hummmm Im sure that you can upload some program for that.

Forget South Park! I saw an episode of Black Mirror about this very thing!!

I love Black Mirror, I haven't watched that episode though, will look into it.

Maybe because people above us don't want us to talk about it or they have just kept it low profile and they will bring it in the public once they are done with their stuff.

I think this is what Elon Musk is concerned about. I'm all for technology and advancement for artificial intelligence though.

They are definitely coming. Take a look up Boston Dynamics and the robots they are making. It is so scary. They look so real and some are much stronger than us. this is definitely heading toward the Terminator.

A strong robot is one thing. A terminator is another. They can make them sturdy, smart or deadly, but they still need a battery haha. Their main limitation is electrical power. I'd be surprised if they could run for more than four hours straight.

Cool video post @writesbackwards, but how sure are you this is not CGI?

I've seen quite a lot of BostonDynamic's robot videos and in the last few years they were getting more and more creepy. The scariest (for me at least) so far is definitely Handle


This thing is pretty fast and seems pretty stable too.
The ethical questions artificial intelligence raises are pretty complicated, but the military use of these technologies should be illegal for sure!

As Stephen Hawking once said

Success in creating effective AI, could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization. Or the worst. We just don't know.
~ Stephen Hawking

This thing could tackle a person with ease lol.

This is my first time to see this kind of robot