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WORKING ROBOTICISTS NEED to indulge the public in sci-fi scenarios.
I thought it’d be a cool story to interview academics and robotics professionals about the popular notion of a robot takeover, but four big names in the area declined to talk to me. A fifth person with robo street cred told me on background that people in the community fear that publicly talking about these topics could hurt their credibility, and that they think the topic has already been explained well enough.
This is a problem. A good roboticist should have a finger on the pulse of the public’s popular conception of robotics and be able to speak to it. The public doesn’t care about “degrees of freedom” or “state estimation and optimization for mobile robot navigation,” but give a robot a gun and a mission, and they’re enthralled.
More importantly, as I heard from the few roboticists who spoke to me on the record, there are real risks involved going forward, and the time to have a serious discussion about the development and regulation of robots is now.
Most people agree that the robot revolution will have benefits. People disagree about the risks.
Author and physicist Louis Del Monte told us that the robot uprising ”won’t be the ‘Terminator’ scenario, not a war. In the early part of the post-singularity world — after robots become smarter than humans — one scenario is that the machines will seek to turn humans into cyborgs. This is nearly happening now, replacing faulty limbs with artificial parts. We’ll see the machines as a useful tool.”
But according to Del Monte, the real danger occurs when self-aware machines realize they share the planet with humans. They “might view us the same way we view harmful insects” because humans are a species that “is unstable, creates wars, has weapons to wipe out the world twice over, and makes computer viruses.”
Frank Tobe, editor and publisher of the business-focused Robot Report, subscribes to the views of Google futurist Ray Kurzweil on the singularity, that we’re close to developing machines that can outperform the human mind, perhaps by 2045. He says we shouldn’t take this lightly.
I’ve become concerned that now is the time to set in motion limits, controls, and guidelines for the development and deployment of future robotic-like devices.
“It’s time to decide whether future robots will have superpowers — which themselves will be subject to exponential rates of progress — or be limited to services under man’s control,” Tobe said. “Superman or valet? I choose the latter, but I’m concerned that politicians and governments, particularly their departments of defense and industry lobbyists, will choose the former.”
Kurzweil contends that as various research projects plumb the depths of the human brain with software, humankind itself will be improved by offshoot therapies and implants.
“This seems logical to me,” Tobe said. “Nevertheless, until we choose the valet option, we have to be wary that sociopathic behaviors can be programmed into future bots with unimaginable consequences.”
Ryan Calo, assistant professor of law at the University of Washington with an eye on robot ethics and policy, does not see a machine uprising ever happening:
Based on what I read, and on conversations I have had with a wide variety of roboticists and computer scientists, I do not believe machines will surpass human intelligence — in the sense of achieving ‘strong’ or ‘general’ AI — in the foreseeable future.
“Even if processing power continues to advance, we would need an achievement in software on par with the work of Mozart to reproduce consciousness.”
Calo adds, however, that we should watch for warnings leading up to a potential singularity moment. If we see robots become more multipurpose and contextually aware then they may then be “on their way to strong AI,” says Calo. That will be a tip that they’re advancing to the point of danger for humans.
Calo has also recently said that robotic capability needs to be regulated.
Andra Keay, managing director of Silicon Valley Robotics, also doesn’t foresee a guns a’ blazin’ robot war, but she says there are issues we should confront: ”I don’t believe in a head-on conflict between humans and machines, but I do think that machines may profoundly change the way we live and unless we pay attention to the shifting economical and ethical boundaries, then we will create a worse world for the future,” she said. “It’s up to us.”
In contrast to this, Jorge Heraud, CEO of agricultural robotics company Blue River Technology, offers a fairly middle-of-the-road point of view: “Yes, someday [robots and machines] will [surpass human intelligence]. Early on, robots/machines will be better at some tasks and (much) worse at others. It’ll take a very long while until a single robot/machine will surpass human intelligence in a broad number of tasks. [It will be] much longer until it’s better in all.”
When asked if if the singularity would look like a missing scene from “Terminator” or if it would be more subtle than that, Heraud said, “Much more subtle. Think C-3PO. We don’t have anything to worry for a long while.”
Regardless of the risk, it shouldn’t be controversial that we need to discuss and regulate the future of robotics.
Northwestern Law professor John O. McGinnis makes clear how we can win the robot revolution right now in his paper, “Accelerating AI” [emphasis ours]:
“Even a non-anthropomorphic human intelligence still could pose threats to mankind, but they are probably manageable threats. The greatest problem is that such artificial intelligence may be indifferent to human welfare. Thus, for instance, unless otherwise programmed, it could solve problems in ways that could lead to harm against humans.”
But indifference, rather than innate malevolence, is much more easily cured. Artificial intelligence can be programmed to weigh human values in its decision making. The key will be to assure such programming.
Long before any battle scenes ripped from science fiction actually take place, the real battle will be in the hands of the people building and designing artificially intelligent systems. Many of the same people who declined to be interviewed for this story are the ones who must stand up as heroes to save humanity from blockbuster science fiction terror in the real world.
Forget the missiles and lasers — the only weapons of consequence here will be algorithms and the human minds creating them.
“but let’s be honest, the best part for a lot of people is usually the potatoes and other sides.”
Can we get a fact check on that?
:/
@Alan Leahy: agreed!! It’s the turkey and ham for me!!
@Alan Leahy:
Is a meatless Christmas dinner not just dinner.
Let’s face it, Christmas Dinner to the majority of Ireland is the ham and turkey.
@Alan Leahy: I’m more interested in the sides on the day. The turkey and ham come into play for leftover sandwiches.
@james spice: We dip the trimmings in beaten egg, seasoned flour (pepper and chilli flakes) and fry them in a little oil. Lemon juice over the top and it’s Amazing.
@offtheball: turkey, ham & roast beef in my house, yum, yum!!
@Cian Nolan: ooof that sounds good.
@Alan Leahy: The ham is definitely the best part! I can take or leave turkey but it’s nice in sandwiches though
@Alan Leahy: Raises hand. Give me the sides, dessert and some fresh bread.
People come on here and are happy to say ‘I love animals’ but the truth is that you love to eat animals – there is no difference between a dog/calf/pig/cat they are all sentient beings yet we have factory farmed some and live with others – it’s called Speciesism
@The world outside the M50: Get over yourself, we’re omnivores.
@lelookcoco: What makes you an ‘omnivore’ ?
Your long intestines are long for a reason – to digest plant matter.
@The world outside the M50: agreed they are delicious
@The world outside the M50: our biology allows us to eat plant matter, but it doesn’t preclude consuming animal matter. Your arguement is the basis to allow choice, not to prove that we are herbivores who force ourselves to also be carnivores.
@The world outside the M50: Cant disagree. I love cows and pigs as animals but I also love eating them. It’s possible to do both at the same time. We’re animals at the end of the day and animals eat other animals.
Cants stand turkeys though so it’s always prime rib or leg of lamb in this house on Christmas Day.
@The world outside the M50: I would also point out that whilst in Western cultures we don’t tend to eat cat or dog, those species are consumed elsewhere. Most cultures happily consume insects, protein intensive, but such thought is abhorrent to western sensitivities. These are cultural artifacts, not based upon any biological requirements in terms of selectivity. For millenia we have been hunter-gatherer omnivores, and it is only with the development of food technology, in terms of alternative sources of vitamins, minerals and protein, that the biological feasibility of a vegan, vegetarian diet has become sustainable
@The world outside the M50: speciesism. That’s a thing now eh? I’m tired.
@Dearbhla O Reilly: lol. I never heard of it either. I think there are words being made up to suit the circumstances lol ;)
@Dearbhla O Reilly: Whenever I hear ‘speciesism’, I think of the vegetarians who don’t eat red meat, but chicken is grand by them!
@D. Memery: You should have a look at how your ‘food’ is ‘prepared’ or should I say how the animals are slaughtered
https://youtu.be/LQRAfJyEsko
@The world outside the M50: I wouldn’t eat dog…… Again
@Brian Tracy: Agreed that year I forgot to order the turkey was pretty ruff, a dog is not just for Christmas…dinner.
@The world outside the M50: don’t mix up the decision to eat meat with modern industrial scale agriculture, both meat and vegetables. Both have resulted in the mass destruction of ecosystems and generally results in poorer quality food. It is well accepted that as a species, particularly in developed countries, we over-produce both meat and plant based foods for what we biologically require. Biologically we require a balance between both meat and plant, but also need to reduce consumption of both in Western society. Free-range and organic as much as possible. I also voted in the poll that I’d be happy with a non-meat Christmas dinner.
@Fiona Fitzgerald: vegetarians don’t eat chicken.
@The world outside the M50: they are delicious…. Meat is good
@The world outside the M50: canine teeth is a clear example. And the fact we can digest meat.
@The world outside the M50: every time i see a vegan preaching, i make a conscious effort to eat meat the next day just to ironically offset any good they think they are doing. I now have a steak in my fridge which will 100% be used tomorrow. Thanks for the preach, i will definitely enjoy it.
@john smith iv: ‘Canine Teeth’ ! – what a joke – when was the last time you used your so called ‘Canines’ to rip an animal to death and tear it apart ?
The largest Canines on the planet belong to a Hippopotamus who of course – like all large animals – is a herbivore.
How do you know if someone is a vegan .? They will be sure to tell you within the first five seconds of meeting you.
End of the day , as a species we have an omnivore diet which helped us to grow and advance at a rate greater than other species.
@Ciaran: Helped, yes. But our mastery of fire a 1,000,000 years ago allowed us to cook food. Cooking food is a form of pre-digestion, that effectively makes food more energy-dense. It’s that which gave us the advantage, as it freed us from constant foraging.
@Fachtna Roe: True, hot food’s also a source of warmth in winter. Interestingly, I recently discovered that people with various common food allergies can indeed eat those foods if baked, which bears out your theory of making a wider range of foods digestible to us humans.
* Oops, if the foods are baked, not the people dining :-)
@Ciaran: i find its the other way round, how do you know someone’s a meat eater, they absolutely tell youuuu
@Fiona Fitzgerald: I find being baked makes me want to digest slot of food
@Keith Fay: Nobody has ever introduced themselves to me as Hi I am whatever, and then said I eat meat. I have been met with hello my name is whatever, I am a vegetarian, vegan or whatever version the follow.
There are a lot of independent places and restaurants that do meat alternative roasts that can be pre-ordered, they’re really good. Even quorn’s roast is great to replace real meat, it tastes like lamb. I know most meat eaters shudder at the thoughts of this, i was the same. When i became vegetarian the one worry i had was how disappointing Christmas dinner was going to be, i was totally wrong, the meat substitutes out there have filled the hole perfectly
@Keith Fay: @Keith Fay: “Pre-ordered” what does that even mean??
I presume you mean “ordered”.
@Keith Fay: I’d ride spiders before I’d eat a meet substitute. Happy to go (and often do) veg only.
@Brian Farrell: meat
@Brian Farrell: ride spiders…. brilliant
@Brian Farrell: think this is my favourite comment ever on the Journal!!!! Love it.
@Brian Farrell: ah man! Thanks for the laugh…classic comment!
@Keith Fay: Meat substitutes are muck and will always be a poor cousin taste wise to the real thing. If anyone decides to go vegetarian they need to get away from the idea of always trying to replace meat. There are loads of vegetarian options that are tasty on their own.
@Gavin Linden: it means you order for a specific time and date. What stone do you live under lol?
@UK Hurling Bloke: Yes, and that is called ‘ordering’.
You must have got your education in the UK.
@Brian Farrell: Comment of the month!
@Gavin Linden: pre-ordering means ordering before the release date. It’s a very common thing especially in the music and video game industry. You can’t order them as they’re not released so you pre-order, very simple.
@Brian Farrell: i mean technically anything replacing meat is a meat substitute, like a nit roast or vegetable wellington. i know what you mean though about the overly processed stuff like quorn. The roasts i mentioned are usually made from seitan or soya and are really good.
@Keith Fay: Ah yes Keith, and that too is called ‘ordering’. Very simple, no pre, prior or any other letters need to be added to that word.
Not currently the biggest issue in my life at the moment but it does join a whole range of other BS words from the hipster crowd that are completely meaningless.
@Gavin Linden: no, you’re very wrong there. It’s a valid english word that describes a specific event / process. Back to school with you please.
@Gavin Linden: from collins dictionary-
preorder
in British English
(priːˈɔːdə)
VERB (transitive)
to order something in advance of it being available
Now accept your defeat please
@Keith Fay: Not much eating on a nit roast, but enjoy yours!
@Fiona Fitzgerald: I don’t eat nit roasts, not my thing
@Gavin Linden: let it go.
A plate of roast spuds and Brussels sprouts. I would eat it no bother as I love them both more than the turkey anyway.
Just don’t sit next to me for 13 hours.
“If they breathe, they live. If they live, they think. If they think, they feel. Just like you and me.” ~ Anthony Douglas Williams
@Stu Cullum: I work with loads of people that contradict that statement.
@Stu Cullum: but they have no capacity for ‘future thought’, no conscience or awareness of mortality, just learned reactions. They are not truly sentient if they can only think of the past, the present, but never of the future?
@Stu Cullum: Plants breathe as well… Photosynthesis… turning Carbon dioxide into Oxygen.
@Inno Items: I think that for purposes of this argument/calculation, you mean “plants ehtaerb”. (As if multiplying across by -1 to allow for the directionality of the oxygen consumption) ;)
@Jack Russell: Some day you should watch the strategies of working dogs in action. Those champion dogs are expert at anticipating the ploys of strays and predators alike, and their brains are excellent at independent thought – vital when the utility dogs are monitoring a flock alone for days at a time in the mountains.
If it were me against a hunting lioness, I wouldn’t bet on myself to outwit her either! A cat could run rings around me. No, I’m not even talking about muscle memory, vastly superior smelling ability & interpretation, and faster reflexes, but the expertise with which they manœuvre. It’s not called “cat chess” for nothing – Malamutes are even better at it.
@Stu Cullum: trees breathe!
Homer: Lisa, honey, are you saying you’re never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad! Those all come from the same animal!
Homer: [chuckling] Yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.
If god didnt want us to eat animals then he shouldn’t have made them so yummy
Some people will be glad of any kind of dinner on Xmas day
The next 2 weeks are crucial
@Genera L Consensus: gov is very concerned
@John Johnes: About their next two pay rises!
Veg have feelings too
Even when we finally do become a mostly meatless society, people will still save delicacies for Christmas day. I eat less meat than I used to eat, but I wouldn’t ever skip my turkey on Christmas day.
@John Murphy: It’s never going to happen people will always eat meat the greens and the Vegans will constantly lie through their teeth about the sustainability of grass fed meat but ploughing the earth releases far more carbon than leaving it in pasture with cattle or sheep. To be honest I’m sick and tired of social and main stream media giving tiny minorities excessive air time to force their opinions down everyone’s throat and try force them to do what they want and Vegans are by far the worst their diet isn’t even sustainable without tons of supplements even though they will deny this, and then you have the dipsticks that force their vegan diet onto their almost exclusively meat eating dogs and cats and end up starving them. Humans are naturally omnivores and no amount of propaganda will change that
@Michael McGrath: Why are you being so divisive and polarising in the way you speak about it? Has some vegan hurt you as a child or something? If You cared, you can say the exact same thing about meat eaters; they often shove it in my face about how I’m not eating properly, won’t be filled if there’s no meat or not getting my required vitamins when I try to enjoy a lovely meal. Or if I’m at a deli and order a role without meat in it.
I am mostly a vegetarian (not vegan) and I never shove it in anyone’s face. I only talk about it if asked. And if you cared to know, most vegetarians/vegans will have to let you know if they’re in your house so you don’t serve them a plate of carcass and make them feel bad/rude when they don’t eat it.
@Tomo: How am I being divisive and polarising I am telling it as it is if anyone is being polarising it’s the activist side of Veganism, I’m not thick obviously the vast amount of vegetarian and vegan people just eat what they want and mind their own affairs I drive home from work everyday along a motorway with a big billboard sign that changes periodically from #GoVeganWorld berating us for the evils of eating meat, now they have latched onto the agriculture carbon footprint b.s on their latest sign that the greens are spouting about. I couldn’t give a fig what a person wants to eat that’s their business but what I eat is my business as well. And your on about Vegans only informing people about their diet when invited to a meal, I know someone who went to a doctor last week who informed him that he was a vegan and that he would benefit greatly from the vegan diet like he did. Now could you imagine a meat eating Dr doing the same thing… Don’t think so
@Michael McGrath: I was thinking of the extreme long term ~100 years plus. By then we would be growing food with new methods hydroponics etc
But even then I’d still say people will want to eat meat. It may be grown in a more humane way though.
@John Murphy: There’s that. I was only reading about lab-grown leather, based on mushrooms.
@Michael McGrath: Odd – I’ve never had a ‘supplement’ – when was the last time you were Vegan and can prove you needed a ‘supplement’ ?
We are not ‘naturally omnivores’ – our long intestines are there for to digest plant material not meat.
If you are such a meat eater when was the last time you went to kill and eat an animal ?
@Fiona Fitzgerald: So it is faux leather.
I went vegan for 6 months and got very run down and lacked lots of vitamins. I will never give up meat again, specially at Christmas. Turkey sandwiches yum.
@Anna Carr: Then you did not understand Veganism – it is NOT a diet – it is a way of life to not harm any living creature.
Any balanced diet will resolve your vitamin deficiencies.
If you are saying ‘yum’ to the eating of a dead animal then you did not understand veganism
I’ll have the turkey, ham AND the veggie option thank you. It’s all delicious. Turkey gravy all over the veg option to wind up the veggie guests.
—–An important notice for all vegans and everybody else too —–From now on you are only allowed to eat vegetables that have been grown using imported peat products——-By order of the Irish Greens!
Where are the comments on the teachers who don’t want the kids wearing masks, they should replaced immediately.
@Martin Doyle: I think you replied to the wrong article .
@Martin Doyle: Unless you’re inviting specific teachers to your Christmas dinner, I don’t see the relevance?
@Fiona Fitzgerald: lol
@Martin Doyle: Because the likes of Raymond Scott and their terrible takes on mask wearing would be lured into those comments sections talking nonsense that would require their comments to be removed anyway. Better to keep them closed so they can’t be heard.
Turkey, ham and stuffing. Christmas just wouldn’t be the same with those wonderful foods
I love dogs and cats, and know my cats have the short gut of a carnivore and cannot live on vegetables. I will spend money on an ethically reared turkey, and give titbits to my darlings. A little meat, now and then, properly farmed
@lynda kennedy: Yes, Cats are ‘obligate carnivores’ like all the cat creatures – they have short intestines getting a burst of energy from meat. – Again there are alternatives but we are not talking about Cat food here.
There are no ‘ethically reared’ turkeys – they cannot procreate themselves due to their upper body weight – they are killed for your table – that is not ethical.
Nobody likes turkey at ours. So it will be brisket and the traditional ham.
@Ashling Visser Bishop: Have to agree. I can’t stand turkey as a meat. I find it dry and tasteless.
@Darren: I eat the Turkey because it’s there. I wouldn’t miss it if it disappeared from our Dinner. The Ham on the other hand…………….
@Darren: If the turkey is dry you’re not cooking it right.
@Cian Nolan: Same, although one of my aunts makes a delicious turkey soup. On my own I wouldn’t bother buying turkey, I’m over it.
I would be OK with a non-turkey dinner. Roast pork with crackling would be perfectly acceptable.
Turkey, Ham and sausage stuffing, pile it high on my plate go away with your veg/vegan nonsense…
I could never understand the coupling of turkey and ham, two fairly dry meats what ever way you prepare and cook them. Got a tip many years ago to go with turkey and bacon.
Cracking combination, just do the bacon in the normal way and you’ll never look back.
@Gavin Linden: Try both in the boned and rolled option, turkey doesn’t get overcooked and dry because of the legs. Ham stays really succulent as well
@Michael McGrath: Cut the legs off and cook them separately. The breast will be done in an hour and be moist. Especially if smothered in butter and wrapped in streaky rashers
@Benny McHale: yep delicious too, either way get the legs off
Answer me this.. If we’re not meant to eat animals then why are are cows and pigs etc so God dam tasty…
Go vegan folks! Eat your veggies. Its the beat. Just don’t forget to eat your meat and dairy too!
Vegans and veggies do know if we all gave up meat all these animals wouldn’t even exist except in a zoo or the odd farm . It’s so expensive to look after and care for them
@Gerrard: All farmed animals are forcibly created – there would be no need to create them
@The world outside the M50: Thats actually not true at all. Any farmer will tell you that.
TBH, as a dinner guest, I wouldn’t touch the vegetarian side dishes unless encouraged. I’ve been to some parties (in the past) where the homecooked vegetarian or vegan sides were so tasty that they were golloped up by the early arrivals, leaving the vegans a bit short of hot food!
going by the comments here it really is no wonder we are in the middle of a pandemic. every bite either fights or feeds disease. unfortunately most people choose the latter
I find turkey too dry, fillet steak for me, medium rare please
No. I wouldn’t eat a meatless dinner ever. Especially not Christmas.
@katholic: So let me get this straight – you have never ever eaten a dinner without meat – not even a pasta dish ? – wow
Turkey and ham once a year for me
Would be intersting if we could see how this developed from say 20 years ago till now .
Looking forward to turkey! Bird and fish are the only remaining meats i have no conscience about eating. I do succumb sometimes to a quater pounder! There will come a time when we will look back and think how odd we were to eat other mammals.
Enough of this vegan nonsense already. It’s akin to the temperence movements in the U.S. that led to prohibition. Enforced morality is never good for society.
OlivePork.ie for the best Christmas ham on the market people, free delivery too.
A goosey gander is a tasty meat.
No one should eat meat unless they’ve visited an abattoir.
Ignorance and inflexibility is not a good enough excuse.
Farmers need to be paid to learn how to change instead of moaning about how their business model is the road to calamity.
@Misty Eyed Mutton: Mutton is tasty if cooked properly.
No.
Why do vegans and such always preach at us meat eater/
Do they think that being talked down to and insulted will make us repent and never eat meat again.
All that does is make people dislike the message even more because the person spreading the message insults them.
I respect people and they should respect me, respect our differences like I respect yours.
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Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
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