A Robot Won’t Steal Your Job Just Yet…
The technology industry likes to talk about how automation is set to change the world. Chatbots present a new way of interacting with software, self-driving cars promise to reshape our cities, and the increasing capability of AI to handle ever more complex and “human” tasks could reshape our economy.
But amid all the futurism, one thing gets lost: actual robots.
London startup Automata Technologies is one of those hoping to reverse the trend. The company makes a tabletop robotic arm, which it hopes will democratise access to automation for every industry by costing a fraction of the tens of thousands of dollars a typical industrial robot costs today, under £5,000 up front, or under £500 a month for a “robotics as a service” package.
Technology baron Elon Musk is scared of AI, warning of visions of the robot apocalypse when Terminator-esque machines decide they no longer need humans.
But judging from the progress made by arguably the most advanced humanoid robots, if Terminator does show up, it won’t even be able to stack shelves without falling over.
The advances made by former Google-owned Boston Dynamics, featuring a series of robots including the Atlas humanoid automaton, which while impressive in many respects is far from a highly capable robotic killing machine, or job takers.
While robotics have certainly come a long way, now able to stand, or even roll on skates can only be described as the stuff of nightmares, Boston Dynamics has shown that an i, Robot-style future is currently very, very far from reality.
So for the time being, the now Soft Bank-owned Boston Dynamics may not have achieved the goal of a house robot, but at least it has provided the world with amusement at a robot that tries so hard, but ultimately fails. But maybe don’t laugh too hard, a machine never forgets.
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