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The threat of Big Dog

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There are videos out there of the Kuratas driving around and it is quite fast and seemingly quite agile. "Suidobashi Industries" definitely seems like it has the advantage going into this thing, especially with how top heavy the Mk2 seems. The videos of the Mk2 coming out of the maker faire where it made an appearance made the thing seem alarmingly unsteady. There's apparently around 175k worth of work and material in the Mk2 as of so far, but it's an incomplete project, and smart speculation is they're using this duel as a way to drum up additional investors so they can finish their work on it before the event happens next year, while Suidobashi already has several years of experience making and allegedly selling the Kuratas. (Apparently with a price tag of around 1.35 million usd.)

 

They're both obviously mostly for show right now though, it'll be interesting to see what evolves over the next year for when these machines are expected to perform in that competition.

 

I know it's just going to be like five minutes of these things awkwardly flailing about until somebody's engine dies, but i can't help but geek out.

 

I love that they're both so obviously inspired by fictional mechas. The Mk2 is clearly going for a Battletech thing, and the Kuratas is said to be inspired by Armored Trooper Votoms designs.

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There are videos out there of the Kuratas driving around and it is quite fast and seemingly quite agile. "Suidobashi Industries" definitely seems like it has the advantage going into this thing, especially with how top heavy the Mk2 seems. The videos of the Mk2 coming out of the maker faire where it made an appearance made the thing seem alarmingly unsteady. There's apparently around 175k worth of work and material in the Mk2 as of so far, but it's an incomplete project, and smart speculation is they're using this duel as a way to drum up additional investors so they can finish their work on it before the event happens next year, while Suidobashi already has several years of experience making and allegedly selling the Kuratas. (Apparently with a price tag of around 1.35 million usd.)

 

They're both obviously mostly for show right now though, it'll be interesting to see what evolves over the next year for when these machines are expected to perform in that competition.

 

I know it's just going to be like five minutes of these things awkwardly flailing about until somebody's engine dies, but i can't help but geek out.

 

I love that they're both so obviously inspired by fictional mechas. The Mk2 is clearly going for a Battletech thing, and the Kuratas is said to be inspired by Armored Trooper Votoms designs.

I hope you arent talking about this video of the Kuratas driving, because its CGI:

 

 

P.S. Why did they need a sexily dressed pilot, Japan is so gross some times.

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Shit, in my defense, i hadn't looked at the video recently. Still, i can't believe it didn't click that the clip of it driving was CG, it's so obvious.

You motivated me to dig into it more, i could find precisely zero footage of the Kuratas actually being mobile, and while they have apparently "sold" multiple Kuratas "starter kits", it seems as though they may have delivered on none of them as of yet.

 

Very interesting.

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Shit, in my defense, i hadn't looked at the video recently. Still, i can't believe it didn't click that the clip of it driving was CG, it's so obvious.

You motivated me to dig into it more, i could find precisely zero footage of the Kuratas actually being mobile, and while they have apparently "sold" multiple Kuratas "starter kits", it seems as though they may have delivered on none of them as of yet.

 

Very interesting.

 

"The team has received over 3,000 orders both in Japan and overseas, but so far all the customers have backed out before paying. "It's funny to see the panicked emails come in from people abroad, saying they thought it was a joke," says Kurata."

 

http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/3/3722592/kuratas-robot-iron-giant-four-ton-mech

 

As much as I love giant mech games I get the feeling they will never be a practical reality. I just can't see a use case for them. These mechs for example are totally outdone by world war 2 era tanks. Humanoid robots make sense when you have to deal with human spaces and tools. The DARPA challenge was based around using robots in Fukushima or other reactors. In many situations putting X tool on tank treads works quite well. 

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In theory, the would be able to traverse terrain that no wheeled vehicle could. In practice, they fall over on flat ground, let alone hilly terrain.

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Counterpoint: why be smart when you can be unstoppable?

 

"Unstoppable" is a myth.

 

Just like "full spectrum dominance", "unilateral hegemony" and similar terms that are thrown around

 

an AI coming to the conclusion that it is "unstoppable" already means that it is not.

 

All warfare is based on deception, and we are the prime decievers, "AI" will never live up to that any time soon.

 

you can be the most powerful...system in the world, not gonna help if you are maneuvered into say..attacking yourself.

 

a spastic, adhd 15-year old strung out on malt liquor and dirt shiggy will still be able to defeat the most advanced AI in a game of deception/unsolved game/game of incomplete information

 

Im assuming we are still talking about cards here.

 

When you start to ponder the chaos of modern 4G maneuver warfare like say Syria/Iraq or Eastern Ukraine, and you multiply that chaos times the simulacrum of propaganda, ideology, intelligence agencies, and cold, heartless realpolitik....well the prospect of an AI being effective in any way goes from unrealistic to downright ludicrous.

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Just in case:

 

Hey, 2PacBestSerbFastRapWizard. Is the answer to this question no?

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Pretty sure that a robot just posted this to deceive us.

 

Saw this yesterday, made me chuckle.

 

I hope this isnt some pathetic subconscious attempt of mine to pander, but I think this is an interesting retort considering the topic.

 

I would even go so far as to say what I wrote could possibly be written by a computer sometime in the future, whereas your answer could not.

 

1)You are not only questioning my theory of human intellect being fundamentally superior to anything devised of circuits, you are wondering if an AI might attempt to convince people that it is stupid, in the hopes that we let down our guard so to speak.

 

2) To make matters even more meta, the statement is also questioning whether or not a robot would attempt to decieve us into thinkig it is stupid not through deeds(i.e. acting like a computer), but through masquerading as a human on a forum about video games and attempting to prove its stupidity in theory.

 

if im not mistaken that right there is a form of nuanced contingency planning, and its also reminiscient of what the poker crowd would call "leveling", i.e what if he thinks i think he thinks and so on.

 

Its also very paranoid, which in my opinion is one of our greatest intellectual assets..xD

 

My statement on the other hand is just a series of simple conclusions, based on the bit of data ive collected so far from poker and being an armchair general

 

 

Just in case:

 

Hey, 2PacBestSerbFastRapWizard. Is the answer to this question no?

 

As far as I am aware I am most certainly not a robot.

 

Unless you believe in simulation theory, in which case we are all AIs in one of many universe simulations that bored neckbeards are running in their futuristic basements in the year 13337...

 

Dick_cap-articleInline.jpg

 

(personally I just think Philip K. Dick did a wee bit too many amphetamines..the man was a genius but damn freelance writin be rough)

 

probably shouldnt judge, im high as fuck right now I hope im making sense

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“Human life is more important than anything, so that’s why we’ve implemented the safeguards that we have on our turret,” says Song.

 

He says of his state-of-the-art autonomous killing machine.

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South Korea is starting to use semi-autonomous turrets in the DMZ. They are already in use in several Gulf States. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150715-killer-robots-the-soldiers-that-never-sleep

 

Dammit you beat me to it!

 

This is by far the best/worst quote of the article:

 

Then they must give the manual input that permits the turret to shoot. “It wasn’t initially designed this way,” explains Jungsuk Park, a senior research engineer for DoDAAM, the turret’s manufacturer.

 

So how was it initially designed Jungsuk? 

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So how was it initially designed Jungsuk?

 

The original idea was to have them essentially be a slightly smarter land mine. Where it would shoot anything that moved, but would be easier to clean up later than land mines (which are all over the DMZ) are. 

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South Korea is starting to use semi-autonomous turrets in the DMZ. They are already in use in several Gulf States. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150715-killer-robots-the-soldiers-that-never-sleep

 

Gah, cool news but it fumbles around for too long, worrying about theoretical problems (what if machines make moral mistakes, etc., stuff of pure fiction as of right now because there is no intelligence in these machines to speak of) instead of addressing current ones which it does, but only towards the end (responsibility of makers and users of these machines).

 

My personal biggest gripe/worry is that automation of hardpower would funnel it even more towards the existing elite.

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Oh man thats sweet. I wonder if it would be more useful for like shipping containers(corpses) or something. Parking cars isn't exactly a problem. 

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Parking cars isn't exactly a problem. 

 

Actually it is. This lets cars move sideways which can allow them to be packed more efficiently or in spaces they otherwise couldn't reach, a problem not found in most boxy objects.

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So hitchBOT, the hitchhiking robot that successfully and safely went across Canada in 26 days last year and Germany in 10 days earlier this year, was destroyed 2 weeks into it's U.S. visit.  The robot was found vandalized in Philadelphia, with all his parts stripped and his head removed (and still missing).

 

HitchBOT-Canada-Broken-Smashed-Pictures-

 

This is surely going to be the inciting incident for the robot revolution.

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