As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Elon Musk: Tesla To Launch Humanoid Robot Next Year

robot - pixabay

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk on Thursday said the electric automaker will probably launch a “Tesla Bot” humanoid robot prototype next year, designed for dangerous, repetitive, or boring work that people don’t like to do. Speaking at Tesla’s AI Day event, the billionaire entrepreneur said the robot, which stands around five foot eight inches tall, would be able to handle jobs from attaching bolts to cars with a wrench, or picking up groceries at stores. The robot would have “profound implications for the economy,” Musk said, addressing a labour shortage. He said it was important to make the machine … Read more

These Dancing Robots Aren’t Scary at All. See?

Boston Dynamics Spot

Hyundai has officially completed its acquisition of Boston Dynamics, the creator of the internet’s favorite dancing Spot and Atlas robots (which only occasionally look like dystopian nightmare machines). And to celebrate, the company is collaborating with K-pop sensation BTS on a new video that shows seven Spot robots grooving to the band’s 2020 song “IONIQ: I’m On It.” As Joe.My.God says: See? These aren’t at all the terrifying murder machines seen shooting bolts into the skulls of screaming humans in recent apocalyptic TV shows. Yeah. Full Story on the Verge

FOR WRITERS: Robots Who Create

robot - pixabay

FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Scott: Inspired by today’s news post about a robot who paints self portraits, and Lindsey B-e’s Cyborg Anthology, a collection of cyborg anthology – will robots ever become creative, like humans? Have you written about it? Writers: This is a writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. Join the chat: FB: http://bit.ly/1MvPABVMeWe: http://bit.ly/2mjg8lf

When Robots Paint

Ai-Da Robotic Artist

The world’s first robotic self-portraits, painted by an android called Ai-Da, have been unveiled at a new art exhibit in London, despite the “artist” not having a “self” to portray. The surprisingly accurate images question the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in human society and challenge the idea that art is exclusively a human trait, according to her creators. Ai-Da is a life-size android artist powered by AI — computer algorithms that mimic the intelligence of humans — that can paint, sculpt, gesture, blink and talk. Ai-Da is designed to look and act like a human woman with a female … Read more

THE FUTURE IS HERE: NYPD Deploys a Robot Dog in Public Housing

NYPD Robot Dog

The NYPD’s robot dog is once again stirring privacy concerns and cyberpunk prophesies of some New Yorkers, after the four-legged machine was spotted inside of a Manhattan public housing complex on Monday. A video shared on Twitter shows the robot trotting out of a building on East 28th Street in front of two NYPD officers, then slowly descending the stairs as bystanders look on in shock. “I’ve never seen nothing like this before in my life,” one woman can be heard saying. The remote-controlled bot was made by Boston Dynamics, a robotics company famous for its viral videos of machines … Read more

Boston Dynamics “Robot Dog” Trains to Explore the Caverns of Mars

Boston Dynamics Robot Dog

Mars exploration is going to the dogs. The robot dogs, that is. Scientists are equipping four-legged, animal-mimicking robots with artificial intelligence (AI) and an array of sensing equipment to help the bots autonomously navigate treacherous terrain and subsurface caves on the Red Planet.  In a presentation on Dec. 14 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), held online this year, researchers with NASA/JPL-Caltech introduced their “Mars Dogs,” which can maneuver in ways the iconic wheeled rovers such as Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity and the recently launched Perseverance never could. The new robots’ agility and resilience are coupled with … Read more

I Bring You Robots, Dancing.

Dancing Robots

Boston Dynamics’ Atlas and Spot robots can do a lot of things: sprinting, gymnastic routines, parkour, backflips, open doors to let in an army of their friends, wash dishes, and (poorly) get actual jobs. But the company’s latest video adds another impressive trick to our future robotic overlords’ repertoire: busting sick dance moves. The video sees Boston Dynamics entire lineup of robots — the humanoid Atlas, the dog-shaped Spot, and the box-juggling Handle — all come together in a bopping, coordinated dance routine set to The Contours’ “Do You Love Me.” Full Story From Joe.My.God

Get Your Own Scary Robot Dog – Just $75K

Boston Dynamics Robot Dog

You can now buy one of those unnerving animal-like robots you might have seen on YouTube — so long as you don’t plan to use it to harm or intimidate anyone. Boston Dynamics on Tuesday started selling its four-legged Spot robots online for just under $75,000 each. The agile robots can walk, climb stairs and open doors. But people who buy them online must agree not to arm them or intentionally use them as weapons, among other conditions. “Spot is an amazing robot, but is not certified safe for in-home use or intended for use near children or others who … Read more

FOR READERS: I [Like] Robot

robot - pixabay

FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Kevin Klehr: Robots that have fascinated you in fiction and real life. Was it their look? Their personality or lack of one? Or…? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat: FB: http://bit.ly/1MvPABV MeWe: http://bit.ly/2mjg8lf