A Chicken In Every Pot, A Robot In Every Home 110
Palm Addict writes "The New York Times report that "South Korea, the world's most wired country, is rushing to turn what sounds like science fiction into everyday life. The government, which succeeded in getting broadband Internet into 72 percent of all households in the last half decade, has marshaled an army of scientists and business leaders to make robots full members of society.""
Mr. Roboto (Score:3, Funny)
So naturally, the next step for them is to be made citizens. That way, they can't dodge the draft [engadget.com].
While they've already began using them for educational [slashdot.org] and military [bbc.co.uk] purposes, I somehow doubt that they will become useful anytime soon. They will be something used only by the government or by the rich until enough money is thrown in and research is done to turn them into anything worth considering.
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:1)
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:1)
No but they might get "intimate" with the vacuum clearer, or the washer on spin-cycle - so not much different from college students!
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:2)
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:5, Funny)
That is what they are for, isn't it?
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:2)
That's not the point! (Score:2)
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:1)
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:2)
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:3, Interesting)
It's an odd coincidence, today, I've been reading "With Folded Hands" by Jack Williamson. It's about a guy who sells robots (scarcely more than voice-controlled Roombas that can retrieve the dirty dishes from your table) for home automation, who is put unexpectedly and immediately out of business when technologically advanced centrally contr
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:1)
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:2)
I, for one, would wholeheartedly welcome robots to do all kinds of stuff for me...as long as it only reports to *me*.
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:2)
"HappyFunBot thinks you've already had enough to drink, so the refrigerator will not open for 24 hours".
"HappyFunBot notes you have gained 1.77Kg. You will eat 800 calories and run for 40 minutes per day until healthy".
"You are about to have unprotected sex. Here is a condom which you
Re:Mr. Roboto (Score:1)
Apu: Make this spare; I'll give you free gelato!
Moe: Then back to my place, where I will get you blotto!
Homer: Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto.
NY Times Article Access (Score:5, Informative)
I apologize for the karma whoring.
Re:Link no longer working (Score:2)
Full Article Text (Score:2)
Anyway, just use underrated and the person doesn't get the bonus. Whatever:
SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea, the world's most wired country, is rushing to turn what sounds like science fiction into everyday life. The government, which succeeded in getting broadband Internet into 72 percent of all households in the last half decade, has marshaled an army of scientists and business leaders to make robots full members of society.
By 2007,
I call bullshit (Score:1, Funny)
Summary misleading. (Score:2, Informative)
I thought on reading the line " to make robots full members of society" that the article was talking about robot [rfreitas.com] rights. [geocities.com] However, the article is just about making plans for standard automation & borderline AI over the next 10 years.
I for one am going to await until this company [irobot.com] is taken over by the rightful owners of that name before I bother to get excited by robots.
Re:Summary misleading. (Score:2)
Re:Summary misleading. (Score:2)
Until then I'll be at the pub.
Re:Summary misleading. (Score:1)
U.S. (Score:2, Funny)
As a red blooded American, I say 'it can't be done.'
Totally misconstrued as... (Score:5, Funny)
Article title corrected... (Score:1, Redundant)
Now usable for the typical Slashdot crowd
Never have seen a title so easy to fix
Re:Article title corrected... (Score:1)
Re:Article title corrected... (Score:1)
I don't even know why the scientists make them.
Humans United Against Robots (Score:2)
Robots will uprise. HUAR will be there.
http://www.humansunitedagainstrobots.com/ [humansunit...robots.com]
Killer App (Score:2)
I definately think the killer app is, "Robot, find my car keys!"
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Re:Killer App (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Killer App (Score:1)
Robots? (Score:5, Interesting)
But to be honest, after reading the article, I am quite impressed. I did not know this. Take, for example: I'll come straight out with it. That is very impressive. However, as I have stated before, technology--while helpful--can cause problems as well. I mean, it's great that (from the article) "Two years ago, after the opposition-led National Assembly impeached President Roh Moo Hyun, a consensus began forming on the Internet that the move was politically motivated -- two hours after the vote took place, Mr. Chang said. That quickly led to mass demonstrations," he said. "That kind of thing had never happened in Korea before. Everyone is connected to everyone else, so issues spread very fast and kind of unpredictably." However, then you have incidents like this:
Honestly, I think South Korea might be moving a little too fast for its own good. People aren't getting a chance to adapt. But then again, who knows?
Re:Robots? (Score:4, Insightful)
If a dog craps on the carpet, you rub his nose in it. If a dog craps on the subway, and the owner doesn't pick it up, you rub *her* nose in it.
Re:Robots? (Score:2)
As for the witch hunt: Given the nature of shame in eastern culture I would expect this to the last time that anyone refuses to pick up after their pet, be it on a tram or in a park or anywhere else.
Yeah what about the other people (Score:2)
Yeah but what about the other people who were humiliated that had nothing to do with this event. Trust people are too uptight and this just shows it. To have a large group of people become obsessive over this one thing is just stupid.
Re:Robots? (Score:1)
Hows the view from up there?
Humiliated perhaps, but it went much further than simple humiliation. Eventually her home address was posted on the internet, there were news stories on the national news channels about it and people were getting information about her parents/family and posting it etc etc. The girl had to quit her university because of it. Did she fuck up? of course, but you would have to
Would you want your sister to marry one? (Score:4, Insightful)
- I wouldn't mind if my sister married an ATM, for example, it would be really easy to beat him at poker and I'd have all the cash I wanted.
- And what's the problem with "Dog Poop Girl"? She needed the humiliation.
- And what's wrong with organizing mass demonstrations by IM? Already happens everywhere.
Re:Robots? (Score:2)
Honestly, I think South Korea might be moving a little too fast for its own good. People aren't getting a chance to adapt. But then again, who knows?
To be brutal (and if I was a victim I might feel otherwise!), but is this bad? I mean, some people go
Re:Robots? (Score:2)
Enh. I don't find it all that impressive. "Free" in this case means, "paid for by taxing Korean citizens". Think about that for a moment, then ask yourself, "is delivering free TV to cell phones really the best use of your citizen's money?"
What we really need to advance robot tech is WWIII (Score:2)
The problem, though is that we have nuclear weapons, so there's no reason to on-the ground wars at all.
Still, if the iraq war were to continue, I could imagine a million-strong robot army would actually help us put a dent in the insurgency, without taking the kinds of casualties that make the war so distastefull at home. Robot soldures could take risks that real soldures can't, so they coul
Re:What we really need to advance robot tech is... (Score:5, Funny)
Obligatory:
Zapp: You see, the killbots have a preset kill limit; knowing their weakness, I sent wave after wave of my own men at them until they reached their limit and shut down.
Bender: It was a dark day for robotkind. Ahhhh, we can always build more killbots.
Re:What we really need to advance robot tech is WW (Score:2)
That's a nice optimistic thought. Unfortunately, in real life it would probably be more like "it would really delight the insurgency, because they only have to hack one and they have a million killing machines they can send at the US troops". (You can tell how much faith I have in the software industry . . .)
Re:What we really need to advance robot tech is WW (Score:2)
I'm with Masamune Shirow [asgard.gen.nz] on this one: Advanced automated devices--especially military and paramilitary devices--will require almost-constant maintenance services from an advanced industrial infrastructure.
Hack one, and it's yours until its component failure. After that, you better hope you're in charge of a major industrial superpower, if you plan on repairing
Re:Deja vu (Score:1)
Ob Simpsons ref (Score:1)
It just isn't worth the effort.
Re:Ob Simpsons ref (Score:2)
Damn. (Score:2)
Physical agency and human robots (Score:4, Interesting)
I think the biggest concern is that machines are liable to be used to destructive ends by manipulative people. Right now machines with physical agency (like cars) have very little in the way of independent capability: they can't really function independently of a human operator. And machines which can function independently of an operator lack physical agency (like ATMs).
The problem with humanoid robots is that they combin independence with physical agency. Even putting the entire issue of AI aside, such machines could be extremely dangerous because they have the potential to be misdirected for destructive purposes by people. Imagine if a 12 year old kid or a terrorist could instruct a big SUV by remote control?
It's not so much humanoid robots that are the concern, but larger machines like vehicles that are a worry to me. Right now it is virutally impossible to remotely hack the controls of an airliner, for example, but if planes began to be made to follow instructions issued from less narrow sources of input - by voice or remote control - then the window for abuse opens dramatically.
As I said, I won't get into AI since that's way too big of an issue, but there is one more point worth thinking about, and that is human beings as robots. Where human beings are profoundly ignorant and very fearful, they are vulnerable to manipulation. That's where terrorists come from. From a certain perspective, suicide bombers are like robots that are being misguided by malevolent human manipulators. Since without highly advanced AI they will presumably be easier to manipulate than even the most ignorant person, robots with physical agency could very quickly become the tool of choice for terrorism.
Wrong.... Your forgetting about the AI (Score:2)
Re:Wrong.... Your forgetting about the AI (Score:2)
They will be programmed as well as other complex programmable things such as computers, using similar tools and methodoiogies. I therefore hope there's an easy way of turning them off.
Built for speed (Score:2, Insightful)
Roomba (Score:5, Insightful)
What I find interesting is that I have three kids, the eldest being four. They're going to grow up in a house where it's not considered unusual to have a robot pootling about the place doing domestic chores, whereas to my generation (I'm 34) that's still a "hey, cool!" thing. Nobody says "hey cool, you've got a washing machine!" anymore, at least no-one in the developed world (I'm in the UK).
I'm hoping that the Roomba is just the start of a number of domestic robots. I wouldn't mind one that could wash windows for example, both internal and external. Or a polishing robot. Or a mail-gaethering robot*, or preferable one robot capapble of doing all of it.
I would imaginethat by the time my kids are 34, domestic robots will be so common that even the phraseology will seem absolete. Sort of like your granny talking about the 'wireless', meaning something utterly different to what you mean by the wireless. They'd just be part of the normal experience of daily life. By getting kids used to the idea that there's nothing special about having a robot, such a day is hastened. And my floors get cleaned as well.
Cheers,
Ian
(*Forget the mail-gathering robot from the Hitchhiker's adventure game. I know about the mail-gathering robot from the Hitchhiker's adventure game. Damned babel fish machine...)
Re:Roomba (Score:2)
Methinks your "washing machine" analogy is waaaaaaaaay off. These robots will become part of the family in a way tha
Re:Roomba (Score:1)
Incidently, I was explaining to my kids just yesterday about how you cant pause TV at grandpa's house. So many things they'll never truly appreciate...
Re:Roomba (Score:1)
WHy is this such a great idea? (Score:2)
just a computer with wheels (or legs). How exactly is this going to
help anyone anymore than a computer does already? Oh sure , all the
techno evangelists who've read one too many Sci Fi novels wheel
out the old "help you in the home" rubbish. But when was the last
time you saw a robot that was ANY practical use WHATSOEVER for
the home? Toys yes, helpful no.
They give an example of robots teaching kids. Err , scuse me , where
are the parents and te
Re:WHy is this such a great idea? (Score:2)
Err...by moving. Using its wheels (or legs).
This weekend, as it vacuumed my house [eruvia.org] (shortness of video doesn't do it justice).
Cheers,
Ian
Re:WHy is this such a great idea? (Score:2)
Great , so it can wobble about and bump into things. Excellent.
>This weekend, as it vacuumed my house (shortness of video doesn't do it justice).
How'd it manage to do the stairs? In the corners. Around the tops
of things. Its a gimmick mate. Which was my point.
Re:WHy is this such a great idea? (Score:2)
Corners? Fine - did it with a brush. It didn't do the stairs. The tops of things - nope. So it's a gmmick? No, not at all.
If the argument is "have we reached a state of robo-nirvana?", then of course I concede. But your question was "when was the last time you saw a robot that was any help at all around the house" - and for that my answer stands. I was busy yesterday, but still the upstair
Re:WHy is this such a great idea? (Score:2)
If it really could clean well, it's dust bin isn't nearly large enough. And yes, it would be nice if it could do the stairs/steps, clean i
Re:WHy is this such a great idea? (Score:2)
>just a computer with wheels (or legs). How exactly is this going to
>help anyone anymore than a computer does already?
Oddly enough, a human being is just a computer with legs, except that a human runs on food while a robot runs on fossil fuels. I'll leave it to the reader to decide which one is more efficient.
Sigh.... (Score:2)
No it isn't. A robot is far more than just a computer. You can't just plop a CS major and have him program a robot. A robot has to react to it's environment by the information it gets from it's sensors. The number of ways this can be accomplished has been probably as varied as the number of computer languages that are available. In fact some computer langauges have been created with the sole purpose of using them for robotics.
A Robot In Every Home? (Score:1)
-- Marge Simpson
goofy post title invites troll (Score:3, Interesting)
It would be good if they had robots to do the dirty work in Korea because as it stands, they think that is what women are for. [nanum.org]
Re:goofy post title invites troll (Score:2)
But being the dad of a 20 month old boy, I sometimes dream of the freedom robotic parents could provide.
Primates First (Score:3)
Re:Primates First (Score:2)
You really have anger issues.
Re:Primates First (Score:1)
The real reason for this: xenophobia (Score:1)
Koreans know that as their population ages and moves in
Re:The real reason for this: xenophobia (Score:1)
Cool! (Score:2)
a better idea (Score:2)
Slippery slope (Score:1)
robot is a relative term in korea (Score:2)