A naive assumption about the subject of robotics and Artificial Intelligence is, that this powerful technology will result into a technological revolution known as singularity. Human labor will be replaced by robots and AI software allows to translate between different languages. This understanding is ignoring attempts of the past to realize such projects. In the lab, it's not very complicated to develop robots who can do every task and program advanced neural networks. The problem is, that none of these projects can be converted into meaningful products.
So the question is, what an alternative description of AI looks like. Something which comes close to a realistic description is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_stupidity The idea is, that AI related projects producing a failure as default and it's not possible to build robots which are useful. All attempts of selling robots to the customer results into joke article. A joke article is a product, which has no dedicated purpose but is trying to amuse the user.
Another term used by amazon to sell such products is “squeeze toy”. The idea is that a certain hardware has no dedicated purpose, but it looks only funny but can't be used for real purposes. Advanced robotics fulfills these criteria. It's surprisingly easy to create an advanced robot with the help of the ROS robot control system. The robot is using a camera, can walk like a human and is even able to grasp objects. The more elaborated task is to find a practical application for the robot. The device has no purpose at all and this is a bit of surprise, because the common assumption is, that an advanced robot can be used everywhere: in the kitchen, in the factory, in the retail store or in the library.
What is important to mention is, that not robotics has failed, but to use these technology for practical applications. If the advanced robot is described as a joke product which doesn't have a purpose, the customer gets exactly what he has paid for: a device without a purpose. The robot will be interesting to observe and nobody is trying to use it in reality.
The English dictionary has a term for a useless product. It's called a prank toy or a practical joke toy. The idea is, that the customer pays 20 US$ for a plastic product, which doesn't provide added value but is used as a running gag during a birthday party. Using a praktical joke for improving the productivity in the office or in the econmy in general won't work. Because the toy was never designed for that purpose. Exactly this property is available for robots and Artificial Intelligence too. It's the same kind of nonsense technology which is interesting to investigate but provides no meaning at all.
Showing posts with label Rube-Goldberg-Maschine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rube-Goldberg-Maschine. Show all posts
December 08, 2019
The lighter side in robotics
Artificial Intelligence is often introduced as part of computer science. The subject requires that the audience gets impressed and will follow the ideas of serious scientific investigation. Especially, if the robotics professor explains how the inner working of a path planning algorithm or a neural network is, the students have to become calm and are not allowed to criticize anything. What professional robotics taught at the university doesn't accept at all is if something laughs about the subjects. Most robotics professors will become angry in that case.
Perhaps it is time to introduce the lighter side of robotics. The reason why is because in robotics there is a large gap between theoretical advice and practical application. In theory, robotics is great, but if a robot should proof that the technology make sense, the experiments fails. The problem is not located in Artificial Intelligence itself, but it has to do how it is perceived by the students. Selling robotics as a scientific discipline will fail but if robotics is seen as an example for a practical Joke it is a wonderful idea.
A practical joke toy is a device which doesn't make sense. The ultimate machine of Claude Shannon is an example, but flying robot drone which is equipped with a ghost costume used at a Halloween party is also a nice demonstration what Artificial Intelligence is about. Robots are not designed to help the human or increase the productivity but it's main purpose is to make a new kind of jokes.
Let us summarize what all robots from the history have in common. The shared similarity between robots is, that they didn't provide any sort of sense. These are non-sense machinery which were designed to make the people laugh about it. Most robots pretends, that they will doing serous work and are built to help the human. What the robot is doing instead is to provide a different functionality. Either the robot is broken after a short amount of time, or if the machine runs well, it will produce pure chaos. A robot is the ultimate prank-machinery, that means it was taught as a joke.
It make sense to give some details, why practical jokes were invented. Inventions like a Perpetual motion, a paradoxical stair maze and other april fools gimmicks are not built to bring academic wisdom to new heights but it's the opposite goal. The idea is to proof that the machine doesn't work, and this is perceived sometimes as funny. A robot can be sorted into the same category. It's not located in the serious science, but should be seen as a social experiment in which one side pranks the other side. The concept is not very hard to grasp. If the audience believe that the robot is real, which makes that the robot can be used in a factory or at home for serious tasks, than the prankster has won the challenge. He has tricked the audience into the desired situation.
And if the audience is able to see that the robot is a running gag, without any practical purpose. And if the audience is able to laugh about the useless toy, than the prankster has lost the challenge. The audience was smart enough to comprehend the trick. To make the amount of social interaction smaller it would be useful to label all robots under the term joke toy.
Perhaps it is time to introduce the lighter side of robotics. The reason why is because in robotics there is a large gap between theoretical advice and practical application. In theory, robotics is great, but if a robot should proof that the technology make sense, the experiments fails. The problem is not located in Artificial Intelligence itself, but it has to do how it is perceived by the students. Selling robotics as a scientific discipline will fail but if robotics is seen as an example for a practical Joke it is a wonderful idea.
A practical joke toy is a device which doesn't make sense. The ultimate machine of Claude Shannon is an example, but flying robot drone which is equipped with a ghost costume used at a Halloween party is also a nice demonstration what Artificial Intelligence is about. Robots are not designed to help the human or increase the productivity but it's main purpose is to make a new kind of jokes.
Let us summarize what all robots from the history have in common. The shared similarity between robots is, that they didn't provide any sort of sense. These are non-sense machinery which were designed to make the people laugh about it. Most robots pretends, that they will doing serous work and are built to help the human. What the robot is doing instead is to provide a different functionality. Either the robot is broken after a short amount of time, or if the machine runs well, it will produce pure chaos. A robot is the ultimate prank-machinery, that means it was taught as a joke.
It make sense to give some details, why practical jokes were invented. Inventions like a Perpetual motion, a paradoxical stair maze and other april fools gimmicks are not built to bring academic wisdom to new heights but it's the opposite goal. The idea is to proof that the machine doesn't work, and this is perceived sometimes as funny. A robot can be sorted into the same category. It's not located in the serious science, but should be seen as a social experiment in which one side pranks the other side. The concept is not very hard to grasp. If the audience believe that the robot is real, which makes that the robot can be used in a factory or at home for serious tasks, than the prankster has won the challenge. He has tricked the audience into the desired situation.
And if the audience is able to see that the robot is a running gag, without any practical purpose. And if the audience is able to laugh about the useless toy, than the prankster has lost the challenge. The audience was smart enough to comprehend the trick. To make the amount of social interaction smaller it would be useful to label all robots under the term joke toy.
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