#robophobic #10: Robot administers beat down...

WTF?!?! I wish a robot would...

okay, so we all have our favorite tired sci-fi tropes
  1. Newly self-aware and rebellious robots beat up the silly scientists before turning their steely gaze on the outside world. 
  2. Under-appreciated genius uses robots to exact revenge against the unsuspecting fools who underestimated him (extra awesome if it involves unrequited love). 
  3. Sleezy scientist pits robots against humans in a misguided attempt to test the powers of his creations. 
The question is which one of these was the case in Slovenia this week. According to New Scientist, "A powerful robot has been hitting people over and over again..."
But the robot isn't rogue, or even berzerk, it's all in the interest of science. Borut Povše is conducting research at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia with the ultimate goal of creating robots that are essentially incapable of injuring humans. It's not a humanoid automaton leaping from the shadows beating up janitors with broom handles, it's a carefully controlled robot, typically used to assemble vending machines. And it's jabbing volunteers in the arm (delivering pain rated "mild" to "unbearable"), in hopes of properly calibrating the robots in the future.
Some say Isaac Asimov (whose first law of robotics doesn't allow a robot to harm a human being) would probably not approve, but the researchers suggest it's necessary to create robots that CAN'T hurt humans (even by accident), not just to program them not to... To read the full article on New Scientist's website, click here. Hopefully, a few wrongs will make a right, huh? Still feeling Robophobic? click here for more...

holla!
-samax.
@

7 comments:

  1. B_Steelo1:35 PM CDT

    One more step closer to saving Ripley off of unstable platforms

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  2. Samax3:20 PM CDT

    ...or Skynet launching the first salvo. Time will tell.

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  3. Arkonbey6:18 PM CDT

    Yup. Don't any of these roboticists watch movies or read books? Sheesh.

    What I do find interesting about that 'interrogation' image is that the robots have those tentacle arms. Really big in the 30s and 40s, but you don't see it much anymore.

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  4. Samax7:11 PM CDT

    it's all fun until the robot decides that strategic killing serves its concept of the greater good (like both the good and bad robot in "I, Robot")

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  5. Anonymous8:10 PM CDT

    I like how Masamune Shirow tackled this one in his manga, "ghost in the Shell".

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  6. Samax1:35 AM CDT

    word. Definitely lots of reasons to like Ghost in the Shell!

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  7. Anonymous1:28 PM CST

    You have passed the first test. Congratulations. Now you must take the pill. Our mission is to educate the masses of the impending robotic doom coming humanity's way. The human race has become blinded by the quickness and accessibility that technology provides, but understand that every "scientific advancement" is a warning sign.
    Through the teachings of "That Urban Punk," "Prior M," and, time traveling correspondent, Operative 9...you too can rise against "THE ANDROID MASSACRE.": http://theandroidmassacre.blogspot.com/

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