In his three Laws, science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke stated the following: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Ten or twenty years ago, creating a video from a still image—like A Girl Running in the Rain on … Continue reading The “Holy-Fuck Moment” of New Technologies
In 1968, Polish photographer Zbyszko Siemaszko took a now-iconic photograph showing a barefoot girl running down a street in the gray rain. Siemaszko documented Warsaw, where he had moved after the end of World War II, and portrayed it as … Continue reading A Girl Running in the Rain on Puławska Street
Yesterday, the U.S. government released a document restricting or completely banning the import of foreign humanoid and four-legged robots. The document, presented by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), adds inverters as an additional category to the devices already subject to … Continue reading U.S. Bans Imports of Humanoid Robots from China
Given that half of the population on the planet is in the active workforce, which would be about four billion people, a forecast by Morgan Stanley that by 20250 one billion humanoid robots are going to populate the planet, this … Continue reading Will Humanoid Robots Lead to Superabundance?
It’s rare to have the opportunity to be face-to-face—or rather, face-to-helmet—with a robot, while still being observed by it from a different perspective. That’s because the Linz-based company—Austria’s only manufacturer of humanoid robots—has incorporated an unusual feature into Workmate: a … Continue reading The Robot with the Drone
Walking, when you really think about it, is controlled falling. We lean forward, but before it gets too dangerous and we lose our balance, our legs stop us from falling. Science fiction author Douglas Adams would have loved this, because … Continue reading Humanoids: Legs or Wheels?
Without even realizing it, I had been devouring books and articles on human behavior for years. Books with titles like *Nudge*, *Predictably Irrational*, and *Why Women Have Sex* fascinated me and found their way onto my bookshelves. Then, around 2010, … Continue reading Addictive AI Slop
Humanoid robots that dance, do somersaults, and perform kung fu moves are fascinating, but they say little about how they can help us in real life. If anything, the only insight we gain from this is that robot hardware has … Continue reading Figures Robots Sort Packages for 200 Hours Straight Without a Bathroom Break
We refer to artificial intelligence as “sycophantic” when, in the form of e.g. a chatbot, it tends to agree with the user time and again—even when it really shouldn’t, or when humans would certainly not take the user’s side. Let’s … Continue reading How Sycophantic AI Encourages Antisocial Behavior
While humanoid robots made of plastic and metal dominate the news and capture the public’s interest, companies and universities are already researching the next generation of robots: after rigid robots come soft robots. The most prominent representative of soft robots … Continue reading Electrofluidic Fiber Muscles for Soft Robots and Wearable Exoskeletons