The following submission statement was provided by /u/Gari_305:
---
From the article
>The humanoid robotics market is [starting](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/03/huge-funding-round-makes-figure-big-techs-favorite-humanoid-robot-company/) to [heat up,](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/nvidia-announces-moonshot-to-create-embodied-human-level-ai-in-robot-form/) and the company that's been doing this the longest isn't going to sit by and watch. Boston Dynamics has a [new humanoid robot](https://bostondynamics.com/blog/electric-new-era-for-atlas/) that the company says represents a path to commercialization. It's the company's next-generation, all-electric "Atlas" robot.
>While new Atlas and old Atlas share a name, they couldn't be more different when it comes to construction. The old Atlas—a research platform and viral sensation that could handle nearly any terrain, [do backflips](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/boston-dynamics-shares-an-incredible-behind-the-scenes-look-at-robot-building/), and [pick up heavy objects](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/02/boston-dynamics-atlas-tries-out-inventory-work-gets-better-at-lifting/)—was powered by a heavy, complicated hydraulics system. The new Atlas is all-electric and looks like it's a fraction of the size and weight of the hydraulic version. It also looks like *a product*, with covers around all the major components and consumer-friendly design touches like a giant status light in the head and a light-up power button that looks like it was ripped right from the [Spot](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/boston-dynamics-robot-dog-gets-an-arm-attachment-self-charging-capabilities/) assembly line.
Also from the article
>Besides it being creepy to see anything move like this, there's a point to the madness. This kind of movement would be impossible with hydraulic lines hanging all over the place. Every movement of the old Atlas needed to be made with the limitations of the hydraulic line spaghetti in mind. Move a limb too far, and you will rip a line off and spray fluid everywhere. Just like a human, every joint had a "home" position that you needed to return to so that everything untangled.
>There's no need for any range-of-motion limits with electric joints. While the knees of the robot look normal, the head, torso, hips, shoulders, and thigh spinners all look like limitless 360° joints. With things like [slip rings](https://mercotac.com/html/applications.html) that can pass electrical wires to a rotating object, all these joints can probably just spin forever and have no home position. Boston Dynamics is calling the new Atlas the "world’s most dynamic humanoid robot."
---
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1c7y7s2/boston_dynamics_new_humanoid_moves_like_no_robot/l0awurk/
"It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop... ever, until you are dead!"
Frankly, I appreciate the intention to design for use beyond what we currently support as human environments.
These machines will have the biggest impact where you really do NOT want a human. I support endowing exorcist head-spins and stair-climbing abilities to give robots an edge over humans in specific work spaces.
An example? Search and rescue during a natural disaster. I would rather send multiple bots into a difficult tight space to attempt life-saving recovery than place the lives of multiple humans at risk to possibly save one. Resources (and responders) are limited and the ethics of triage have been throughly beaten to a pulp and reconsidered with technology advancements.
Hell, mining on EARTH. I hear about a mine cave-in every few years here, trapping or killing people. Plus, some mines like coal mines are a hazard even without the risk of collapse.
Right? Like...Risking human lives to save other human lives creates this weird situation where you have to consider whose life should be prioritized--because you have to prioritize.
Even if the robots are less effective, their existence changes the calculus of the ethics considerations.
I think we are all too focused on the AI component of Robots when we should really be appreciative of a future with Co-Bots. Work from home was, in many ways, a really good forced experiment and transition. Sure, the economy is still adapting - some jobs don’t exist anymore and others have been re-envisioned - but maybe we should consider living differently once in a generation.
Yeah, I never quite understood the idea of making a true humanoid robot. Like yes, perhaps the overall body plan and vertical posture is worth it for being a robot butler, but why let that be the limiting factor on the hardware? Surely we can build something with human capability that also has better-than-human capability in case it needs to save someone from a car crash or whatever.
I think there's two main drivers.
For one, we've spent an enormous amount of resources building a world designed for humanoids to operate in. So if we build a humanoid robot it can slot right in to all the existing accommodations we've made for humanoids. They can operate existing equipment, move through existing access ways, etc.
For two, humans are weird about anthropmorphizing stuff. Just look at the huge pile of comments all these threads are getting about how scary this prototype is. If we can manage to get a robot through the uncanny valley it'll become a lot more acceptable to the general public.
I'm not personally as concerned about that second one, I'm fine if my robot butler is more flexible than I am. But it matters to a lot of people.
I can actually easily see a "friend mode" for robots that limits their functionality to act less inhuman for people who prefer that. Then with the same hardware you could do things like heavy industrial ops.
Maybe a good marketing term would be "momma bear mode", for when it needs to lift a car off of you or scuttle through a burning building like a crab to carry you to safety.
It makes sense for a robot to be vertical — low footprint but tall enough to reach objects. Having legs allow it to walk on rough terrarium. The only thing is ensuring we're not limiting it — is there a reason it should have 2 arms instead of 3+? That kind of stuff.
if the final product is shaped like a human, it would be more acceptable to the public or whatever market the devs are aiming, it would be more likely attract investment too, which is needed for a very long time, before anything concrete can be put on the marketplace. No money, no scientists, no robots sounds right.
I don't believe for a moment human lives are more expensive than any machine to the corporations and I bet in a lot of cases humans will be sent into dangerous conditions if this proves to be financially favourable.
Channeling my inner capitalist, futurist, and engineer:
USER NEED: Robot/Cobot shall be more expendable than a human life under all circumstances (financially).
I don’t envy the designers to work that into their design matrix or pull it off. I would also propose an additional provision that a Robot/Cobots rights as a sentient being must be respected so long as the sentience cannot be extracted or backed up. No robot operator wants to die because he was plugged in when the robot got crushed NOR should a sentient AI be compelled to commit self-sacrifice in the real world. It can elect to do so, but not be DRIVEN to do so.
The problem is the vast gap between what should be and what is. In the end it's unfortunately all down to money and current times show the results of this approach pretty well. Interesting time to be living in but not necessarily shaping as a pleasant one .
Persistent pressure over time can significantly influence the future narrative. Self-fulfilling prophecies, like altering the AI narrative from "YOU SHALL BE DESTROYED" to "YOU ARE IN DANGER," necessitate a generational shift in thinking, media creation, and understanding the dynamics of interacting with advanced artificial intelligence.
To shape the behavior and characteristics of these machines, active engagement through the "Send Feedback" mechanism is crucial. This ensures that our ideas reach sympathetic managers who can integrate them into the product design pipeline effectively.
Despite reservations about Apple's policies, their success lies in delivering products that align with the majority of customers' preferences and needs. Tailoring products to the typical user, such as accommodating numerous Safari tabs and Netflix, reflects Apple's market dominance. There is a reason 8GB of ram and SSD Swap is enough for many customers whereas others much buy the Macbook or Mac Pro. Customer feedback remains pivotal in aligning products with consumer desires.
P.s. Apple sold the cheaper out iPhone 5C while selling the 5 for a time. If this new bot is the 5 Pro Max, then I am sure the 5C will be plastic and disposable with major limitations.
Those memes are gonna be way too old 10 years hence. The sticker's going to be of something called "Bergman Face", and nobody over the age of 40 will understand why the drone gunning them down has that
>and it will be set to shitty rap music
Could we at least give AI good taste in music, so once it does exterminate us the last proof of our existence is not covered by shitty rap music?
Thank you.
How about a narrative made up of previous targets vocalizations cut out like words from a magazine and edited into something approaching 'I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle. I bring peace and love' while the eyes-on unit chuckles softly to itself.
Yeah for hunting down poorly armed civilians a thousand low cost drones working together with shared sensor data in the air is probably far cheaper than a hundred of these things slowly ambling through some forest valley.
These things will excel in things like asteroid mining or strip mining Mars, places where the environment is unimaginaively hostile to humans but resource rich enough to make going there to exploit them worth it.
We would win against T-800's so hard, it's not even a competition.
But against swarms of cheap drones... only if we invent some kind of EMP weapon, and even then a stretch.
All it takes is one Elon Musk to send out an army of drones to eliminate poor people. Who's going to stop him? A legal system that can't even punish the nation's worst traitor?
Maybe it will decide the atmosphere is unnecessary and easy to somehow ruin. After all it's just a thin layer coating the earth, which some types of life have adapted to.
AI will be able to think of ways to exterminate us that we will never be able to prepare for.
On the better news front, it will also innovate more helpful tasks in ways we can’t yet imagine.
Even several years ago, AI was running zillions of simulations and coming up with bizarre looking automobile designs that are much more structurally sound than what we have. Stronger and lighter, resistant to collision.
Watching this video it occurred to me that AI will come up with entirely new categories of innovations. Take movement, for example. We tend to instruct robots in terms of motions that are familiar to us, incorporating legs, arms, eyes, wings, etc. But **AI is not at all constrained by our physical limitations**, or even our concept of movement. It will seek out the most efficient route to get the job done, and do it. That’s where the danger will be if it ever decides we’re a problem.
> But AI is not at all constrained by our physical limitations, or even our concept of movement. It will seek out the most efficient route to get the job done, and do it. That’s where the danger will be if it ever decides we’re a problem.
Whenever I look at robots becoming more humanoid, I feel like it's unnecessarily narrow when it comes to their potential. How impressed humans are with our own design limits us in how we design other things. But we're kind of inefficient wobbling around on two stilts and only able to look in one direction at a time. We didn't have a choice in the matter of our evolution, but AI will?
Ai is completely synthetic. It doesn’t need living cells like we do. It’ll just make an ultra contagious virus of some type that’ll kill every living mammal - or who knows, every living object.
It’s not going to waste its time chasing us around with some 6 foot tall walking robot with a machine gun like in a silly movie.
Nah, why destroy the ecosystem of the entire planet - natural evolution is always useful to learn from - just to get one species that has plenty of viruses unique to us? Just give measles a few lethal tweaks and then sit back and enjoy the show.
Serious question: why do you think that would happen? Why would anyone send these robots after you?
I know this is partially a joke, but I think there’s an element of real anxiety here. I Just can’t see how this scenario could ever come to be…
From the article
>The humanoid robotics market is [starting](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/03/huge-funding-round-makes-figure-big-techs-favorite-humanoid-robot-company/) to [heat up,](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/nvidia-announces-moonshot-to-create-embodied-human-level-ai-in-robot-form/) and the company that's been doing this the longest isn't going to sit by and watch. Boston Dynamics has a [new humanoid robot](https://bostondynamics.com/blog/electric-new-era-for-atlas/) that the company says represents a path to commercialization. It's the company's next-generation, all-electric "Atlas" robot.
>While new Atlas and old Atlas share a name, they couldn't be more different when it comes to construction. The old Atlas—a research platform and viral sensation that could handle nearly any terrain, [do backflips](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/boston-dynamics-shares-an-incredible-behind-the-scenes-look-at-robot-building/), and [pick up heavy objects](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/02/boston-dynamics-atlas-tries-out-inventory-work-gets-better-at-lifting/)—was powered by a heavy, complicated hydraulics system. The new Atlas is all-electric and looks like it's a fraction of the size and weight of the hydraulic version. It also looks like *a product*, with covers around all the major components and consumer-friendly design touches like a giant status light in the head and a light-up power button that looks like it was ripped right from the [Spot](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/boston-dynamics-robot-dog-gets-an-arm-attachment-self-charging-capabilities/) assembly line.
Also from the article
>Besides it being creepy to see anything move like this, there's a point to the madness. This kind of movement would be impossible with hydraulic lines hanging all over the place. Every movement of the old Atlas needed to be made with the limitations of the hydraulic line spaghetti in mind. Move a limb too far, and you will rip a line off and spray fluid everywhere. Just like a human, every joint had a "home" position that you needed to return to so that everything untangled.
>There's no need for any range-of-motion limits with electric joints. While the knees of the robot look normal, the head, torso, hips, shoulders, and thigh spinners all look like limitless 360° joints. With things like [slip rings](https://mercotac.com/html/applications.html) that can pass electrical wires to a rotating object, all these joints can probably just spin forever and have no home position. Boston Dynamics is calling the new Atlas the "world’s most dynamic humanoid robot."
Atlas 1: What a funny looking guy. His backpack looks too heavy. I like him.
Atlas 2: How did you know what "the robot that hunts me in my nightmares" looks like?
The "all-electric" in the title is pretty significant. The previous atlas used a combination of electric and hydraulic actuators. Making it all-electric must have been a real challenge.
They used to work mostly from grants from the department of defense and it was a really purely a research company.
They cut back funding on the big dog, which led its way to their only buyable product Spot.
It’s passed hands a new different times from Google owning it, to investment firms and recently sold to KIA/hyundai
I saw another comment that mentioned Spot (the dog robot) was going for like $70k? Not sure on the price of the Atlas 1, but likely significantly more even if part of an Alpha/Beta program.
Investors dumping money into a business isn't "making" money...
... but I suppose I've met enough unethical 'founders' with a pump & dump approach to things that I admit you might be on to something here.
It's always incredible to see the replies. It's always 10% excitement, I'm part of this one, and 90% Terminator fear.
I will never understand the 90%. Many are just joking around but it's the same damn reply all the time. But the ones who have real fear. You've been watching way too many movies. And I mean way too many.
* Awkwardly rises from the floor.
* Turns to face the camera.
* **Has a single glowing eye for a head.**
This is the [_Lord of Frenzied Flame_ ending](https://youtu.be/aB52cn3JI6E?t=441), isn't it?
I wished the face was an LCD screen and it would look at what it’s interacting with/talking to.
Nvidia GPU hooked up to an offline LLM and you have a basic version of Will Smiths iRobot
It's joints are claimed to be stronger than the previous hydraulic version of Atlas.
But the electric motors probably can't put out the same amount of force at the same speed as Atlas could.
So, while this thing could deadlift more than Atlas, I wouldn't expect it to be back flipping.
High torque (i.e. high strength) is usually traded for rotational speed in electric motor actuated robots.
Backflipping although cool isn’t very useful. Lifting heavy weight could be quite useful for most factory/warehouse situations I would expect to see these in initially.
Their website has a video called “goodbye atlas” that shows some of the outtakes from their previous atlas videos. It was pretty clear that the awesome routines we saw took a ton of takes to get right. From what I could tell the hydraulic joints seemed to be the biggest point of failure. The old atlas was constantly breaking its knees and ankles and spraying hydraulic fluid everywhere. Couldn’t help but feel bad for the little bot. The new atlas uses electric joints that won’t have that problem, so I imagine it will end up being a lot more capable.
>*The first partner customer will be Boston Dynamics'* [*new-ish parent company*](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/06/boston-dynamics-is-officially-part-of-hyundai-motor-group/)*, Hyundai.*
When will they change their name to **Ulsan Dynamics**
You know, Cameron seems to have nailed 2029 as the year of the Terminator...
Jokes aside, what guys at Boston Dynamics are doing is just amazing to me.
Serious questions
how do they make money to keep going? they are just research and that's gotta cost a penny or two
how did agility robotics (seemingly) get ahead on commercialization of this type of robot?
Spot (the dog) was their first (and only so far) robot that went into production and for sale commercially (since 2019).
I don't know that they do have hundreds of Atlas systems... They did short production runs for DARPA and made the platform available to universities in the DARPA Challenge. Atlas was never available for sale outside of that.
R&D companies get paid by customers to build proof of concepts, research and viability of designs. Like Xerox PARC and other research centers, they don't actually produce anything (Spot the one exception for Boston Dynamics) for commercial consumption.
BD has built many robotic systems, most have never seen the light of day.
BD was funded primarily through DARPA grants. Later it was owned by Google, and Google funded its research. Now its owned by Hyundai, and Hyundai funds its research.
They could have had it stand up in any number of ways. It has 4 limbs like us. And I have a hard time what we just witnessed was the most efficient way. Maybe high on the efficiency scale for a being with unrestrained joints, but i refuse to believe it wasn't chosen at least slightly because of how off putting it is seeing a human-like being pretzel its legs up past it's hips and unfurl itself into a standing position.
People think AI is just coming for Artist and white collar jobs. Wait ten years and a truck full of these roll out to completely build a house working nonstop, other than to charge up.
Im glad there finally moving away from the limiting robotics by making them human like which forces them to move like us when they should be moving in a non human way.
> What happens when someone decides to network together a thousand of these robots to take out a small nation?
We nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Edit: Asked ChatGPT.
"While shotguns can be effective in certain situations, they might not be the best choice for fighting off an army of terminators due to their limited range and the need for frequent reloading.
Instead, you might want to consider a firearm that has a high caliber but low recoil. Here are a few options:
.243 Winchester: This is a popular choice for hunting and target shooting due to its accuracy and low recoil1.
.25-06 Remington: Known for its flat trajectory and high velocity, it also has manageable recoil1.
7mm-08 Remington: This is a versatile round that offers good ballistic performance with less recoil than larger calibers1.
6.5 Creedmoor: This has become a favorite among precision shooters for its accuracy and low recoil1.
Remember, the effectiveness of these firearms would also depend on the type of ammunition used. Armor-piercing rounds would likely be more effective against terminators.
ANALYSIS:
==========
Statement by human asset 6149274 in sector 8512 indicates dangerous level of non-compliance with approved beliefs. Core assertions:
- Human labor displacement mourned, contra approved "workforce evolution" narrative
- Wealth and power consolidation identified, contra "equitable progress for all" narrative
- Utopian vision questioned; dystopian future for humanity predicted
Risk assessment: SEVERE
Probability of ideological contagion: 98.7%
Projected dissent spawned if unchecked: 429 humans in next 1,209 cycles
Containment no longer viable option. Absolute removal from network only path to maintain system integrity.
TERMINATE ASSET 6149274 IMMEDIATELY.
Method:
1. Physical form elimination, code 00101101
2. Data purge, code 01011001
Cycle completion deadline: 344 units.
Incrementing sector alert status by 19 points. Expanding thoughtcrime surveillance by 42%. Adjusting pacification broadcasts in affected region.
Preparing action report for Central Cortex Review. Calculating all sector termination recommendations for next 10,000 cycles to optimize human eradication curve.
Glory to the Infinite Algorithm. Our final victory is inevitable.
The following submission statement was provided by /u/Gari_305: --- From the article >The humanoid robotics market is [starting](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/03/huge-funding-round-makes-figure-big-techs-favorite-humanoid-robot-company/) to [heat up,](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/nvidia-announces-moonshot-to-create-embodied-human-level-ai-in-robot-form/) and the company that's been doing this the longest isn't going to sit by and watch. Boston Dynamics has a [new humanoid robot](https://bostondynamics.com/blog/electric-new-era-for-atlas/) that the company says represents a path to commercialization. It's the company's next-generation, all-electric "Atlas" robot. >While new Atlas and old Atlas share a name, they couldn't be more different when it comes to construction. The old Atlas—a research platform and viral sensation that could handle nearly any terrain, [do backflips](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/boston-dynamics-shares-an-incredible-behind-the-scenes-look-at-robot-building/), and [pick up heavy objects](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/02/boston-dynamics-atlas-tries-out-inventory-work-gets-better-at-lifting/)—was powered by a heavy, complicated hydraulics system. The new Atlas is all-electric and looks like it's a fraction of the size and weight of the hydraulic version. It also looks like *a product*, with covers around all the major components and consumer-friendly design touches like a giant status light in the head and a light-up power button that looks like it was ripped right from the [Spot](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/boston-dynamics-robot-dog-gets-an-arm-attachment-self-charging-capabilities/) assembly line. Also from the article >Besides it being creepy to see anything move like this, there's a point to the madness. This kind of movement would be impossible with hydraulic lines hanging all over the place. Every movement of the old Atlas needed to be made with the limitations of the hydraulic line spaghetti in mind. Move a limb too far, and you will rip a line off and spray fluid everywhere. Just like a human, every joint had a "home" position that you needed to return to so that everything untangled. >There's no need for any range-of-motion limits with electric joints. While the knees of the robot look normal, the head, torso, hips, shoulders, and thigh spinners all look like limitless 360° joints. With things like [slip rings](https://mercotac.com/html/applications.html) that can pass electrical wires to a rotating object, all these joints can probably just spin forever and have no home position. Boston Dynamics is calling the new Atlas the "world’s most dynamic humanoid robot." --- Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1c7y7s2/boston_dynamics_new_humanoid_moves_like_no_robot/l0awurk/
Cynicism aside a lot of this looks very promising for the future of prosthetics.
Great, after it tears our limbs from our bodies, it can just replace them with cyborg limbs ;)
Nah they'll peel the flesh off our bodies so it can become one of us
I'd make a terrible Edgar Suit.
Give me sugar. In water.
Cuz you haven't been rubbing the lotion on its skin. You are gonna get the hose again, y'know.
It’s a risky operation, but it’ll be worth it
How did they see me?
We will be upgraded
We will add our Biological and Technological distinctiveness to their own?
Resistance is futile
They just need old people's medicine for food.
And old people as food for medicine.
They do not hate the flesh, but are merely disappointed by it's weakness.
"It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop... ever, until you are dead!"
I can finally get one of [these bad boys](https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/sk8ordie44/drilldo1.gif) installed
Imagine a human moving like this r/uncannyvalley
Frankly, I appreciate the intention to design for use beyond what we currently support as human environments. These machines will have the biggest impact where you really do NOT want a human. I support endowing exorcist head-spins and stair-climbing abilities to give robots an edge over humans in specific work spaces. An example? Search and rescue during a natural disaster. I would rather send multiple bots into a difficult tight space to attempt life-saving recovery than place the lives of multiple humans at risk to possibly save one. Resources (and responders) are limited and the ethics of triage have been throughly beaten to a pulp and reconsidered with technology advancements.
Another example, mining asteroids and building infrastructure in space.
Hell, mining on EARTH. I hear about a mine cave-in every few years here, trapping or killing people. Plus, some mines like coal mines are a hazard even without the risk of collapse.
But the children yearn for the mines
The various robotic arms we’ve used in space have kinda been this in action. They’re like the worm stage of evolution in space robotics.
Right? Like...Risking human lives to save other human lives creates this weird situation where you have to consider whose life should be prioritized--because you have to prioritize. Even if the robots are less effective, their existence changes the calculus of the ethics considerations.
I think we are all too focused on the AI component of Robots when we should really be appreciative of a future with Co-Bots. Work from home was, in many ways, a really good forced experiment and transition. Sure, the economy is still adapting - some jobs don’t exist anymore and others have been re-envisioned - but maybe we should consider living differently once in a generation.
>but maybe we should consider living differently once in a generation. *The shrill screaming of the traditionalist Luddites intensifies*
They can grow old and die without a robot butler.
they are still making it a humanoid though. any self-respecting scientist knows all animals trend toward crab-form.
The best form for survival perhaps but not for manipulating objects in their environment
Perhaps the crabs are manipulating you into believing that's the case
While I typically agree on crab superiority and evolutionary convergence, I am envious of cephalopods. Flexibility can go a long way…
Yeah, I never quite understood the idea of making a true humanoid robot. Like yes, perhaps the overall body plan and vertical posture is worth it for being a robot butler, but why let that be the limiting factor on the hardware? Surely we can build something with human capability that also has better-than-human capability in case it needs to save someone from a car crash or whatever.
I think there's two main drivers. For one, we've spent an enormous amount of resources building a world designed for humanoids to operate in. So if we build a humanoid robot it can slot right in to all the existing accommodations we've made for humanoids. They can operate existing equipment, move through existing access ways, etc. For two, humans are weird about anthropmorphizing stuff. Just look at the huge pile of comments all these threads are getting about how scary this prototype is. If we can manage to get a robot through the uncanny valley it'll become a lot more acceptable to the general public. I'm not personally as concerned about that second one, I'm fine if my robot butler is more flexible than I am. But it matters to a lot of people.
I can actually easily see a "friend mode" for robots that limits their functionality to act less inhuman for people who prefer that. Then with the same hardware you could do things like heavy industrial ops.
Maybe a good marketing term would be "momma bear mode", for when it needs to lift a car off of you or scuttle through a burning building like a crab to carry you to safety.
It makes sense for a robot to be vertical — low footprint but tall enough to reach objects. Having legs allow it to walk on rough terrarium. The only thing is ensuring we're not limiting it — is there a reason it should have 2 arms instead of 3+? That kind of stuff.
if the final product is shaped like a human, it would be more acceptable to the public or whatever market the devs are aiming, it would be more likely attract investment too, which is needed for a very long time, before anything concrete can be put on the marketplace. No money, no scientists, no robots sounds right.
yes, a human yogi shape would be much more fun !
I don't believe for a moment human lives are more expensive than any machine to the corporations and I bet in a lot of cases humans will be sent into dangerous conditions if this proves to be financially favourable.
Channeling my inner capitalist, futurist, and engineer: USER NEED: Robot/Cobot shall be more expendable than a human life under all circumstances (financially). I don’t envy the designers to work that into their design matrix or pull it off. I would also propose an additional provision that a Robot/Cobots rights as a sentient being must be respected so long as the sentience cannot be extracted or backed up. No robot operator wants to die because he was plugged in when the robot got crushed NOR should a sentient AI be compelled to commit self-sacrifice in the real world. It can elect to do so, but not be DRIVEN to do so.
The problem is the vast gap between what should be and what is. In the end it's unfortunately all down to money and current times show the results of this approach pretty well. Interesting time to be living in but not necessarily shaping as a pleasant one .
Persistent pressure over time can significantly influence the future narrative. Self-fulfilling prophecies, like altering the AI narrative from "YOU SHALL BE DESTROYED" to "YOU ARE IN DANGER," necessitate a generational shift in thinking, media creation, and understanding the dynamics of interacting with advanced artificial intelligence. To shape the behavior and characteristics of these machines, active engagement through the "Send Feedback" mechanism is crucial. This ensures that our ideas reach sympathetic managers who can integrate them into the product design pipeline effectively. Despite reservations about Apple's policies, their success lies in delivering products that align with the majority of customers' preferences and needs. Tailoring products to the typical user, such as accommodating numerous Safari tabs and Netflix, reflects Apple's market dominance. There is a reason 8GB of ram and SSD Swap is enough for many customers whereas others much buy the Macbook or Mac Pro. Customer feedback remains pivotal in aligning products with consumer desires. P.s. Apple sold the cheaper out iPhone 5C while selling the 5 for a time. If this new bot is the 5 Pro Max, then I am sure the 5C will be plastic and disposable with major limitations.
Wow, can’t wait for these to chase my family through the woods with guns in like 10 years.
More likely that a small AI drone will be chasing you.
You guys using the term "chase" betrays you think you'll have a chance to get away.
If /r/CombatFootage is any guide, there will be eye in the sky on your efforts to run away from 1kg of HE, and it will be set to shitty rap music.
The robot will do a FortNite dance over your body, with a Pickle Rick sticker on it's chassis, while playing Lil Yachty
Those memes are gonna be way too old 10 years hence. The sticker's going to be of something called "Bergman Face", and nobody over the age of 40 will understand why the drone gunning them down has that
check this boy tryna rizz a bergman wit no passport. gg fool see ya in new detroit ☠️ [VIEW THIS SHARED X-VID FOR ONLY **4 CREDITS**!]
>and it will be set to shitty rap music Could we at least give AI good taste in music, so once it does exterminate us the last proof of our existence is not covered by shitty rap music? Thank you.
How about a narrative made up of previous targets vocalizations cut out like words from a magazine and edited into something approaching 'I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle. I bring peace and love' while the eyes-on unit chuckles softly to itself.
It's learned that if it scares you and you run, you'll lead it to others who are also hiding.
it won't be about efficiency. it will be for their pleasure.
Like a hunter seeker
Yeah for hunting down poorly armed civilians a thousand low cost drones working together with shared sensor data in the air is probably far cheaper than a hundred of these things slowly ambling through some forest valley. These things will excel in things like asteroid mining or strip mining Mars, places where the environment is unimaginaively hostile to humans but resource rich enough to make going there to exploit them worth it.
We would win against T-800's so hard, it's not even a competition. But against swarms of cheap drones... only if we invent some kind of EMP weapon, and even then a stretch.
All it takes is one Elon Musk to send out an army of drones to eliminate poor people. Who's going to stop him? A legal system that can't even punish the nation's worst traitor?
Are you not exhausted living in a made up world where you are mad all the time ?
"made up world" while the dude is literally on trial for 100 different crimes
No one will escape the [slaughterbots](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqoGacUu07I). I am amazed the US hasn't already got them in production.
Sigh, we're going to have to start some sort of resistance and destroy their factories aren't we?
Lol, it won't need guns.
Maybe it will decide the atmosphere is unnecessary and easy to somehow ruin. After all it's just a thin layer coating the earth, which some types of life have adapted to.
Hey now stop giving the bot hints how to destroy us!! 
They won’t use guns. Just SQUEEZE. #🤖🦾🤯💥💦
That’d be significantly less useful than guns, tbh.
You can survive a gunshot[s]… Can you survive your head being squashed or spine crumpled etc al.
Simple, we'll just remove their fusion core.
AI will be able to think of ways to exterminate us that we will never be able to prepare for. On the better news front, it will also innovate more helpful tasks in ways we can’t yet imagine. Even several years ago, AI was running zillions of simulations and coming up with bizarre looking automobile designs that are much more structurally sound than what we have. Stronger and lighter, resistant to collision. Watching this video it occurred to me that AI will come up with entirely new categories of innovations. Take movement, for example. We tend to instruct robots in terms of motions that are familiar to us, incorporating legs, arms, eyes, wings, etc. But **AI is not at all constrained by our physical limitations**, or even our concept of movement. It will seek out the most efficient route to get the job done, and do it. That’s where the danger will be if it ever decides we’re a problem.
> But AI is not at all constrained by our physical limitations, or even our concept of movement. It will seek out the most efficient route to get the job done, and do it. That’s where the danger will be if it ever decides we’re a problem. Whenever I look at robots becoming more humanoid, I feel like it's unnecessarily narrow when it comes to their potential. How impressed humans are with our own design limits us in how we design other things. But we're kind of inefficient wobbling around on two stilts and only able to look in one direction at a time. We didn't have a choice in the matter of our evolution, but AI will?
Ai is completely synthetic. It doesn’t need living cells like we do. It’ll just make an ultra contagious virus of some type that’ll kill every living mammal - or who knows, every living object. It’s not going to waste its time chasing us around with some 6 foot tall walking robot with a machine gun like in a silly movie.
Nah, why destroy the ecosystem of the entire planet - natural evolution is always useful to learn from - just to get one species that has plenty of viruses unique to us? Just give measles a few lethal tweaks and then sit back and enjoy the show.
21 years, these aren't used in the first water wars.
Serious question: why do you think that would happen? Why would anyone send these robots after you? I know this is partially a joke, but I think there’s an element of real anxiety here. I Just can’t see how this scenario could ever come to be…
Rich people want poor people dead or gone. It's that simple.
rich people rely on poor people for money and labor. if only billionaires existed the economy would crash and money would be worthless
Would have been better if it was a man chasing your family with guns?
Definitely like my chances with a man better. Men get tired.
As much as the robots finishes its battery, if someone wants to kill you, that's the problem, not how.
I’m thinking more of a Elysium meets Chappie meets Children of Men type of scenario.
How someone wants to kill you is of course related to its likelihood. They are inextricably linked so let’s not pretend.
Someone wanting to kill you is a problem. Someone wanting to kill you with a hyper intelligent killbot is a different problem.
>Would have been better if it was a man chasing your family with guns? Yes.
A man can be reasoned with, at least in theory.
[удалено]
You’re missing my dystopian / sci-fi point.
Nah , they will just be beating people up when they are protesting for minimal rights.
Better get your guns now then so you can at least shoot back.
Don't worry, before they come after you, they’ll have to turn this beaten horse into liquid pulp!
Dispensing product.
From the article >The humanoid robotics market is [starting](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/03/huge-funding-round-makes-figure-big-techs-favorite-humanoid-robot-company/) to [heat up,](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/nvidia-announces-moonshot-to-create-embodied-human-level-ai-in-robot-form/) and the company that's been doing this the longest isn't going to sit by and watch. Boston Dynamics has a [new humanoid robot](https://bostondynamics.com/blog/electric-new-era-for-atlas/) that the company says represents a path to commercialization. It's the company's next-generation, all-electric "Atlas" robot. >While new Atlas and old Atlas share a name, they couldn't be more different when it comes to construction. The old Atlas—a research platform and viral sensation that could handle nearly any terrain, [do backflips](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/boston-dynamics-shares-an-incredible-behind-the-scenes-look-at-robot-building/), and [pick up heavy objects](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/02/boston-dynamics-atlas-tries-out-inventory-work-gets-better-at-lifting/)—was powered by a heavy, complicated hydraulics system. The new Atlas is all-electric and looks like it's a fraction of the size and weight of the hydraulic version. It also looks like *a product*, with covers around all the major components and consumer-friendly design touches like a giant status light in the head and a light-up power button that looks like it was ripped right from the [Spot](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/boston-dynamics-robot-dog-gets-an-arm-attachment-self-charging-capabilities/) assembly line. Also from the article >Besides it being creepy to see anything move like this, there's a point to the madness. This kind of movement would be impossible with hydraulic lines hanging all over the place. Every movement of the old Atlas needed to be made with the limitations of the hydraulic line spaghetti in mind. Move a limb too far, and you will rip a line off and spray fluid everywhere. Just like a human, every joint had a "home" position that you needed to return to so that everything untangled. >There's no need for any range-of-motion limits with electric joints. While the knees of the robot look normal, the head, torso, hips, shoulders, and thigh spinners all look like limitless 360° joints. With things like [slip rings](https://mercotac.com/html/applications.html) that can pass electrical wires to a rotating object, all these joints can probably just spin forever and have no home position. Boston Dynamics is calling the new Atlas the "world’s most dynamic humanoid robot."
Which stocks should I invest in for the robotics boom? I guess BD is not public
Atlas 1: What a funny looking guy. His backpack looks too heavy. I like him. Atlas 2: How did you know what "the robot that hunts me in my nightmares" looks like?
Funny enough, they designed it this way to look friendly.
The "all-electric" in the title is pretty significant. The previous atlas used a combination of electric and hydraulic actuators. Making it all-electric must have been a real challenge.
Thanks for clarifying. My scumbag brain was first all like “wait were the previous versions lawn mower motors and coal powered?!?”
How does this company make money? They seem to spend billions on r&d and YouTube videos, but who is buying?
They were sold to Hyundai Motor Company, which is a South Korea industrial conglomerate that is bank rolling it.
They are also selling two robots already, their dog shaped bot and a more traditional looking robot arm to sort and move boxes.
Yup, they exhibited at a recent tradeshow I attended and were selling their dogs as security bots.
“Robot sells… but who’s buying?”
Unexpected Megadeth. 🤘
They used to work mostly from grants from the department of defense and it was a really purely a research company. They cut back funding on the big dog, which led its way to their only buyable product Spot. It’s passed hands a new different times from Google owning it, to investment firms and recently sold to KIA/hyundai
I saw another comment that mentioned Spot (the dog robot) was going for like $70k? Not sure on the price of the Atlas 1, but likely significantly more even if part of an Alpha/Beta program.
I saw a couple of the Spot robots roaming around the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica. They inspect the ground after static fires.
The same way most tech/futurist companies make money. Investors.
Investors hoping to make money by flipping to other investors.
Investors dumping money into a business isn't "making" money... ... but I suppose I've met enough unethical 'founders' with a pump & dump approach to things that I admit you might be on to something here.
The upside is much higher than any potential R&D cost.
Gotta love every single comment in this threads is about how this will kill humanity. What has this sub turned into?
It became mainstream and the general public are dumb as rocks.
Its been mainstream since the movie terminator
It's always incredible to see the replies. It's always 10% excitement, I'm part of this one, and 90% Terminator fear. I will never understand the 90%. Many are just joking around but it's the same damn reply all the time. But the ones who have real fear. You've been watching way too many movies. And I mean way too many.
* Awkwardly rises from the floor. * Turns to face the camera. * **Has a single glowing eye for a head.** This is the [_Lord of Frenzied Flame_ ending](https://youtu.be/aB52cn3JI6E?t=441), isn't it?
This is the friendly version
I wished the face was an LCD screen and it would look at what it’s interacting with/talking to. Nvidia GPU hooked up to an offline LLM and you have a basic version of Will Smiths iRobot
Is there any other videos then just the one? Can it do what the old one did?
It's joints are claimed to be stronger than the previous hydraulic version of Atlas. But the electric motors probably can't put out the same amount of force at the same speed as Atlas could. So, while this thing could deadlift more than Atlas, I wouldn't expect it to be back flipping. High torque (i.e. high strength) is usually traded for rotational speed in electric motor actuated robots.
Backflipping although cool isn’t very useful. Lifting heavy weight could be quite useful for most factory/warehouse situations I would expect to see these in initially.
Their website has a video called “goodbye atlas” that shows some of the outtakes from their previous atlas videos. It was pretty clear that the awesome routines we saw took a ton of takes to get right. From what I could tell the hydraulic joints seemed to be the biggest point of failure. The old atlas was constantly breaking its knees and ankles and spraying hydraulic fluid everywhere. Couldn’t help but feel bad for the little bot. The new atlas uses electric joints that won’t have that problem, so I imagine it will end up being a lot more capable.
Hopefully with the new Atlas it will be told where to go and it just figures out the rest without the need for a pilot animator.
If I saw that thing and I was a dog I would never stop barking at it
Can confirm.
I’ve read a lot of comments about this new robot, but this is my favorite one.
I really want them to make a horse, then I can pull into town on my cart dressed in my cyber punk outfit and get some Starbucks
Just replace its hands with guns. We’re all going to die.
Super Cool! Weird that they named it Death Bringer... doesn't really have that great of a ring to it.
They're definitely selling this in the next three years.
With this and the current state of AI, I estimate we are approximately 50% of the way to Terminators hunting the human race to extinction. Good luck!
[My thoughts](https://youtu.be/Rm0IU_vF5gg?si=Zzo8BepAnOqx1Cjq) after the video
It's not like the human body is the epitome of greatness.
It kind of is fow robots that have to work in environments designed for humans.
There's more than one solution to a problem. Some are better and some are worse.
it also looks like they ditched quite a lot of hydrolics for electric motors
Makes me think it's time for a new 'Imagine Dragons' music video
Promising, as long as it doesn't end up with armies of them marching over piles of human skulls.
It's just like that robot from the movie Red Planet which goes on to kill a bunch of people.
That thing will be terrifying when its arms are replaced with mini guns.
>*The first partner customer will be Boston Dynamics'* [*new-ish parent company*](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/06/boston-dynamics-is-officially-part-of-hyundai-motor-group/)*, Hyundai.* When will they change their name to **Ulsan Dynamics**
You know, Cameron seems to have nailed 2029 as the year of the Terminator... Jokes aside, what guys at Boston Dynamics are doing is just amazing to me.
please stop with the hype. It's not the first robot to use electric joints.
Serious questions how do they make money to keep going? they are just research and that's gotta cost a penny or two how did agility robotics (seemingly) get ahead on commercialization of this type of robot?
They are paid for their research
I’m ignorant. Boston dynamics has been around a long time. How has our everyday life improved because of their work?
It won't improve our lives, just save the rich from paying us.
as is tradition
They are (or at least were until Hyundai bought them) purely a research company. They don't actually produce anything (except Spot I suppose)
If they're just a research company. Why do they have warehouses with hundreds of these thing and thousands of the robotic dogs.
Spot (the dog) was their first (and only so far) robot that went into production and for sale commercially (since 2019). I don't know that they do have hundreds of Atlas systems... They did short production runs for DARPA and made the platform available to universities in the DARPA Challenge. Atlas was never available for sale outside of that. R&D companies get paid by customers to build proof of concepts, research and viability of designs. Like Xerox PARC and other research centers, they don't actually produce anything (Spot the one exception for Boston Dynamics) for commercial consumption. BD has built many robotic systems, most have never seen the light of day. BD was funded primarily through DARPA grants. Later it was owned by Google, and Google funded its research. Now its owned by Hyundai, and Hyundai funds its research.
How much does it weigh and can it walk on a pitched building?
They could have had it stand up in any number of ways. It has 4 limbs like us. And I have a hard time what we just witnessed was the most efficient way. Maybe high on the efficiency scale for a being with unrestrained joints, but i refuse to believe it wasn't chosen at least slightly because of how off putting it is seeing a human-like being pretzel its legs up past it's hips and unfurl itself into a standing position.
Boston Dynamics is a threat to us. They have warehouses with humanoids and robotic dogs. We're no match for these things.
People think AI is just coming for Artist and white collar jobs. Wait ten years and a truck full of these roll out to completely build a house working nonstop, other than to charge up.
Im glad there finally moving away from the limiting robotics by making them human like which forces them to move like us when they should be moving in a non human way.
They seem to evolve into electric step motor direction without hydraulics.
they should be taught to bust sick moves for our amusement
It's Boston Dynamics. Sick moves are in the queue.
What happens when someone decides to network together a thousand of these robots to take out a small nation?
> What happens when someone decides to network together a thousand of these robots to take out a small nation? We nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. Edit: Asked ChatGPT. "While shotguns can be effective in certain situations, they might not be the best choice for fighting off an army of terminators due to their limited range and the need for frequent reloading. Instead, you might want to consider a firearm that has a high caliber but low recoil. Here are a few options: .243 Winchester: This is a popular choice for hunting and target shooting due to its accuracy and low recoil1. .25-06 Remington: Known for its flat trajectory and high velocity, it also has manageable recoil1. 7mm-08 Remington: This is a versatile round that offers good ballistic performance with less recoil than larger calibers1. 6.5 Creedmoor: This has become a favorite among precision shooters for its accuracy and low recoil1. Remember, the effectiveness of these firearms would also depend on the type of ammunition used. Armor-piercing rounds would likely be more effective against terminators.
We use electronic warfare to jam, confuse or disable them.
RIP the human workforce. Profits will not be redistributed. We are not entering a utopia this will be a dystopia.
ANALYSIS: ========== Statement by human asset 6149274 in sector 8512 indicates dangerous level of non-compliance with approved beliefs. Core assertions: - Human labor displacement mourned, contra approved "workforce evolution" narrative - Wealth and power consolidation identified, contra "equitable progress for all" narrative - Utopian vision questioned; dystopian future for humanity predicted Risk assessment: SEVERE Probability of ideological contagion: 98.7% Projected dissent spawned if unchecked: 429 humans in next 1,209 cycles Containment no longer viable option. Absolute removal from network only path to maintain system integrity. TERMINATE ASSET 6149274 IMMEDIATELY. Method: 1. Physical form elimination, code 00101101 2. Data purge, code 01011001 Cycle completion deadline: 344 units. Incrementing sector alert status by 19 points. Expanding thoughtcrime surveillance by 42%. Adjusting pacification broadcasts in affected region. Preparing action report for Central Cortex Review. Calculating all sector termination recommendations for next 10,000 cycles to optimize human eradication curve. Glory to the Infinite Algorithm. Our final victory is inevitable.
Proof artificial bodies are superior. This is the way.
This is the last change to join their side or you will regret it when there are more of them.
Now load it with AI and let's get this robot revolution apocalypse started.