Four-legged robots

   / Four-legged robots #2  
dave1949 said:
I just saw this, it's been out since this February.

Pretty fascinating robotics. Electronic controls with hydraulic actuators.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8YjvHYbZ9w

I bet it could be programmed for herding work among other uses.
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Fascinating just to watch. They would have many uses. Many could be used for bad purposes by bad people. Of course there would be many good purposes they would be used for also. A little scary to think about teaming up a "hyperalloy combat chassis with an advanced artificial intelligence". You might just get terminated.
 
   / Four-legged robots #3  
Cool, I would guess that they will have to be reduced in price a good bit before anyone can afford one for that.
 
   / Four-legged robots
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#4  
k0ua said:
Fascinating just to watch. They would have many uses. Many could be used for bad purposes by bad people. Of course there would be many good purposes they would be used for also. A little scary to think about teaming up a "hyperalloy combat chassis with an advanced artificial intelligence". You might just get terminated.
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Ya, the article that led me to the video was about Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk warning about killer robots and the likelihood of a robot arms race developing. I could see that happening. True they are expensive but it isn't cheap to put a trained soldier in the field either, and the soldier is much harder to replace--along with the political equation that goes with that.
 
   / Four-legged robots #5  
dave1949 said:
Ya, the article that led me to the video was about Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk warning about killer robots and the likelihood of a robot arms race developing. I could see that happening. True they are expensive but it isn't cheap to put a trained soldier in the field either, and the soldier is much harder to replace--along with the political equation that goes with that.
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Not to mention the ethical part. But hey killing a 'bot? No big deal. A 'bot killing a carbon based lifeform? No big deal. To the 'bot.
 
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#6  
k0ua said:
Not to mention the ethical part. But hey killing a 'bot? No big deal. A 'bot killing a carbon based lifeform? No big deal. To the 'bot.
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It's a slippery slope for sure.
 
   / Four-legged robots #8  
dave1949 said:
It's a slippery slope for sure.
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Yes it is. I don't get any comfort seeing that technology. You can imagine how a republic with robots could round up the remainder of the guns (if they needed to). The only way to be protected from that robot dog is with a strong democracy. I'd rather not think about stuff like that but I know the technology is marching on.
 
   / Four-legged robots #9  
Can you imagine on of those wearing some thick kevlar armor being pointed at a machine-gun position, and rapidly advancing on it. The 'bot could have its own machine gun or flamethrower even if it was remotely controlled by a human gunner it would certainly take the enemy by surprise and would be nearly unstoppable unless the enemy was prepared with an RPG or some Claymores set out or something to blow the thing up. These things will change the face of warfare, and within our lifetimes.
 
   / Four-legged robots
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#10  
I know it is silly but because the 'bots look and move at least marginally like a familiar life form, I find myself attaching "feelings" to them. So what happens when the robots are 2-3 times more realistic than those in the video and are costumed to better resemble a person or dog for examples? I think it could be mentally insidious, a theme that has been explored in sci-fi movies and books.

We are already prone to imparting personality traits to cars and tractors, imagine how we will think about a capable droid. Wars and such aside, in the future people are much more likely to interact frequently with androids in normal day-to-day settings. There is a powerful human tendency to look for human traits in other species and droids would fit into the idea of "other species" quite easily.
 
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