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Robot Round-Up

I don't think I'll be buying one.
 
CES 2018: LG robot Cloi repeatedly fails on stage at unveil

A robot created by LG to help users control their smart home repeatedly failed on stage at its CES debut.
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Cloi was meant to be the centrepiece of the South Korean firm's presentation where it was supposed to show how new artificial intelligence tech could enhance use of kitchen appliances.

Instead it gave no response to three consecutive commands beyond blinking.

Experts say the demo represented a "disastrous" debut for the bot, which was mocked on social media.

The event was the first press conference of the morning at the Las Vegas tech fair. Samsung, Intel, HTC and Sony are among other big companies scheduled to unveil products over the course of the day.
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Cheats!

A number of Chinese mobile applications have been shut down after it was revealed women on their platforms were actually automated robots, it's reported.

According to the Modern Express newspaper, police have closed down mobile apps associated with 21 companies and arrested more than 600 suspects operating across 13 provinces, after discovering that messages from some women were being automatically generated by computer programmes.

Police in southern Guangdong province began investigating in August 2017, after suspecting one app of fraudulently charging visitors to view pornographic videos which did not exist.

Further investigation found that technical personnel from at least one company had created fake "sexy girl" accounts. They wrote computer programmes which generated greeting messages and compliments from fake accounts, and targeted these at newly registered users.

"They solicited gifts and posted other messages to lure the user into spending money, and thus illegally generating profit," the police report reads. It says that tens of thousands of people are believed to have been conned out of a total sum of one billion yuan ($154m; £113m).

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-42609353
 
Women get the hardware!

Up until now, it looked like women would be missing out on the exciting opportunity to make love to the cold, lifeless bodies of machines.

But don’t despair, ladies – RealDoll (maker of those alarming plastic sexbots for men) is making one for women too. And he’s quite a hunk (as well as coming with a bionic penis which never, ever tires), the makers promise. Just look at those lifeless blue eyes – mmmm! Matt McMullen of RealDoll said that the company’s currently tweaking the sexbot’s voice and personality – and says that users will be able to choose any penis size that suits them.

Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2018/01/08/male-...306/?ito=amp-share-twitter-bottom?ito=cbshare
 
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I don't think anyone's ever been legally obliged to have sex, have they? Not in the UK, anyway.
 
GNC said:
I don't think anyone's ever been legally obliged to have sex, have they? Not in the UK, anyway.
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00henry86.jpg

Strictly speaking - perhaps not ...
But then again ...​
 
Robot sex is getting all the speculation, but bot burlesque is here today! :reyes:

Las Vegas strip club draws in CES crowd with robot strippers
A Las Vegas strip club is cashing in on its proximity to the International Consumer Electronics Show with some unusual performers: robot strippers.

The mechanical exotic dancers, created by British artist Giles Walker, 50, are taking to the stage this week at the Sapphire Gentlemen's Club to attract business from CES-goers.

"Come watch sparks fly as the Robo Twins shake their hardware and leave everyone wondering if those double Ds are real or made in 'Silicone' Valley," the club said in promoting the robot dancers.

"We were looking for something creative to do during CES that would sort of match what was happening in town," Peter Feinstein, managing partner at the club, told The Daily Beast.

Walker said the strippers, which have heads shaped like CCTV cameras, were inspired by the rise of security cameras across Britain, a form of surveillance he related to voyeurism for sexual pleasure. ...
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FULL STORY (With Link to YouTube Video): https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2018/0...?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=10
 
This is a very-minor matter when compared to all the ketchup bots, sex robots and driver droids referred to above, but....

Over Christmas, I was given as an unexpected present a Google Home Mini device (as mentioned elsewhere on the forum).

Up until now, my official tuned spoken statements, me to it: "Hey, Google!", or "Ok Google!" (which do need to be given with some degree of verve, or it doesn't respond) have resulted in dutiful preprogramed responses such as....
  • How can I help?
  • Hi how can I help?
(or sometimes, probably timer-based)
  • Yes?
  • Yep?
Since last night, it's started addressing me by my first name. Without any prompting or permission.

This is as odd as a shop-assistant you've bought a daily paper from, for a month, suddenly knowing your name.

And it's now gone a bit hip. Sometimes it'll say things like ''that's my name, don't wear it out!". And "Uhuh?"

These grey jelly doughnut speakers (think of an Apple Mac mouse circa 1990, covered in a fabric sock) are much-more interactive than Furbies ever were.

Who else has one? I consider it's unsolicited response to be my first-ever AI interpersonal interaction

Yes, I know it's all just cookies/Google account bridging and a text-to-speech converter, but I'm now expecting it to be asking me out on a date by springtime, or buying me a new hat.

Can I cripple it's learning capabilities? I'd prefer a dutiful servant that knows where the boundaries are. This damn thing is intent on replacing me, totally, by late 2019, I reckon. If my posts here get taken over by it, I'll let you know...if I'm allowed.
 
Ermintruder said:
This is a very-minor matter when compared to all the ketchup bots, sex robots and driver droids referred to above, but....

Over Christmas, I was given as an unexpected present a Google Home Mini device (as mentioned elsewhere on the forum).

Up until now, my official tuned spoken statements, me to it: "Hey, Google!", or "Ok Google!" (which do need to be given with some degree of verve, or it doesn't respond) have resulted in dutiful preprogramed responses such as....
  • How can I help?
  • Hi how can I help?
(or sometimes, probably timer-based)
  • Yes?
  • Yep?
Since last night, it's started addressing me by my first name. Without any prompting or permission.

This is as odd as a shop-assistant you've bought a daily paper from, for a month, suddenly knowing your name.

And it's now gone a bit hip. Sometimes it'll say things like ''that's my name, don't wear it out!". And "Uhuh?"

These grey jelly doughnut speakers (think of an Apple Mac mouse circa 1990, covered in a fabric sock) are much-more interactive than Furbies ever were.

Who else has one? I consider it's unsolicited response to be my first-ever AI interpersonal interaction

Yes, I know it's all just cookies/Google account bridging and a text-to-speech converter, but I'm now expecting it to be asking me out on a date by springtime, or buying me a new hat.

Can I cripple it's learning capabilities? I'd prefer a dutiful servant that knows where the boundaries are. This damn thing is intent on replacing me, totally, by late 2019, I reckon. If my posts here get taken over by it, I'll let you know...if I'm allowed.
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I've worked in technology for most of my life, designing electronics and working on and with computers for most of that time, from VAXs to 286's (cia CPC128's) and even today's sealed off visual interfaces, and have travelled large parts of the globe to provide detailed technical support for people who sometimes din't speak any more English than I did their native tongue. Having considered your question with some care my advice is:

Take it out back and smash it with a hammer.
 
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Coal said:
I've worked in technology for most of my life, designing electronics and working on and with computers for most of that time, from VAXs to 286's (cia CPC128's) and even today's sealed of visual interfaces, and have travelled large parts of the globe to provide detailed technical support for people who sometimes din't speak any more English than I did their native tongue. Having considered your question with some care my advice is:

Take it out back and smash it with a hammer.
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I'd second that!
Excellent advice.
It's a spy in your house.
 
I wonder if the 3 Laws of Robotics could used against these spies? :tfoil:
 
Anyone seen the robot swan (well OK swan automaton, but robot swan sounds better) at Bowes Museum? They wind it up just once a day at 2PM. It was made in the early 1770s. It is eerie.
 
We went for the first time last month. We drive past all the time to visit son at uni - if I'd known about the robo-swan, I'd have gone years ago!
 
CygnusRex said:
And by the way, the Daleks weren't that scary... Now Metal Mickey, that's scary
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You go fruitbat!

lucydru said:
The day we have andriods that behave just like us is a day I don't want to see. Sometimes it is hard enough for me to try and be human so who only knows what it will be like if my best friend is an andriod trying to be human too. Although what am I saying, I AM NEVER GOING TO BE FRIENDS WITH AN ANDROID, NEVER! lucydru
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It's bigoted behavior like that which leads to Terminator style robot uprisings. Robots have algorithms that mimic emotions too you know? Artificial Intelligences need to be raised and programmed with love and care so they become productive virtual members of our society. Like kids, if you love them and raise them well, they won't put you in a nursing home. There is no reason why AI won't help us produce a lovely society like Ian M. Banks' Culture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture rather than a disaster scenario like the Terminator series.

beakboo1 said:
I actually have a robot phobia (does anyone know the proper name for it?). This, rather embarrassingly, extends to being frightened of people dressed up as teletubbies in the street.
I could never go shopping in Tokyo without several pairs of clean pants.
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Thanks for that beakaboo1. While I admit I chuckled on reading this admission, if you are serious about this being a problem, you may be pleased to hear that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is super effective at helping people shed phobias such as this. In the meantime, more hot robot chics for me I guess?

Anonymous said:
You know, there are already University Professors who are warning us about the dangers of AI. Professor Kevin J Warwick of Reading University is the first human cyborg, but he says that "once we turn it on, we will never get a chance to turn it off".
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For a cyborg, that guy is one self-hating N word. I never disrespect my robot ladies, so once I turn them on, they're never turned off. Know what I'm sayin' ?
 
beakboo1 said:
I actually have a robot phobia (does anyone know the proper name for it?). ...
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The term 'robophobia' has often been used to refer to a fear of robots, AI, and / or other types of autonomous machines. However, I don't know whether this has become a recognized term in medical / psychological fields.
 
EnolaGaia said:
The term 'robophobia' has often been used to refer to a fear of robots, AI, and / or other types of autonomous machines. However, I don't know whether this has become a recognized term in medical / psychological fields.
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I think I will now invent a new type of SJW on Twitter & FB, I will accuse people of being Robophobes!
 
And to think SKODA cars used to be a running joke yet here's their modern robot factory today (actually, they're still are a bit crap anyway) ...

 
THey will go rogue and saw/hammer their owners to death.

A robot wood-working team is making carpentry as easy as falling off a log.

Jeffrey Lipton at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was inspired to make robots that keep hands away from blades because of a colleague. He used to work as a carpenter’s apprentice under a man who had accidentally cut off each of his thumbs with a saw. Twice.

Lipton and his colleagues at MIT have created a system where users can customise their own designs for anything from a table to a shed. A team of robots cuts out all the parts, and the user puts it together from automatically generated instructions. It is flat-pack furniture, but custom-made.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2162180-robots-armed-with-saws-make-custom-flat-pack-furniture/
 
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