The threat of Big Dog

[Dewar]

Sounds like a success to me

[kickinthehead]

Saw this article about a deep learning AI that after being fed thousands of samples of visual and audio data, could predict what sound would be made from a drumstick hitting an object. So basically, if we're wearing armor against our robot overlords, just from looking at us they'll know how to directly target our soft regions and avoid the armor.

 

http://qz.com/712044/mit-researchers-built-an-ai-that-predicts-what-the-world-sounds-like/

[Moosferatu]

 

Oh man, it's the best dog yet.

[Cordeos]

That head is terrifying

[atte]

Subscribing to Boston Dynamics' Youtube channel continues to be a great idea.

 

 

 

[Twig]

OH MY GOD those are incredible

[Moosferatu]

Subscribing to Boston Dynamics' Youtube channel continues to be a great idea.

 

bdRobot.gif

robotCola.gif

 

 

What no banana peel gif?

[atte]

What no banana peel gif?

Added. At least they are not kicking them anymore (my robot sympathies have been revealed now).

[Moosferatu]

Added. At least they are not kicking them anymore (my robot sympathies have been revealed now).

 

Ha!  Excellent.

 

Just make sure to line all the entrances to your home with banana peels and you should be safe.

[Codicier]

we are dooomed
 
https://www.engadget.com/2016/06/28/combat-ai-beats-air-force-experts/
 

Lee, who has trained thousands of Air Force pilots and has been taking on AI opponents since the early 80s, was unable to score a single kill against ALPHA on multiple tries. In fact, he was shot down every time.

 
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED

 

Even when the researchers placed ALPHA at a severe disadvantage by limiting the speed, turning, and weapons and sensor capabilities of its simulated aircraft, the AI pilot was able to beat out other expert human pilots

[Gaizokubanou]

As long as sentience is not achieved these are just advanced tools but... that line seems closer and closer cause these are indeed tools that make fast snap decisions for us, no???

 

Also now sci fi with normal human pilots feel even more dated.

[Dewar]

So I'm looking at all these articles about people freaking out about the Tesla crashing while on Autopilot. There are a lot of things wrong with the situation, like the fact that the driver might have been watching a movie at the time, and the Tesla not hitting the brakes even after the collision, But one thing I don't see anyone mentioning is the crash diagram in this article.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/business/self-driving-tesla-fatal-crash-investigation.html?_r=0

 

Obviously they don't note the street signs or signals there but, provided there isn't some major signage giving people in that turn lane the right-of-way, that truck made an illegal turn in front of another vehicle. Who's to say that a human driver wouldn't have been any better or worse in that situation?

 

Edit: Just read another article that said the side of the truck looked like the cloudy sky to the Tesla, and didn't stop, so maybe a human would have acted better in that case, but who knows where that info comes from.

[brkl]

I've heard two stories. One in which the truck turns to the Tesla's lane (from the representatives of the deceased) and another where the Tesla turns to the truck's slower lane (from the truck driver, I think).

 

EDIT:

That diagram is different from the picture I got reading the story I read.

[Cordeos]

[Gwardinen]

Robot skeleton. What could go wrong?

 

[BillTheCat]

A women and her dog hide in the woods from a Boston Dynamics killbot:

 

[Vasari]

https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/30/japan-humanoid-alter-robot/

 

Japan's National Science Museum is no stranger to eerily human androids: It employs two in its exhibition hall already. But for a week, they're getting a new colleague. Called "Alter," it has a very human face like Professor Ishiguro's Geminoids, but goes one step further with an embedded neural network that allows it to move itself. The technology powering this involves 42 pneumatic actuators and, most importantly, a "central pattern generator."

 

That CPG has a neutral network that replicates neurons, allowing the robot to create movement patterns of its own, influenced by sensors that detect proximity, temperature and, for some reason, humidity. The setup doesn't make for human-like movement, but it gives the viewer the very strange sensation that this particular robot is somehow alive. And that's precisely the point.

 

Alter also sings -- in a horrific, nightmare-inducing way. The haunting melody that comes from the machine are sine waves vocalizing how the robot's fingers move. (The team apparently tested other noises and melodies but decided to keep things simple for this early model.)

[Jutranjo]

[Jutranjo]

The Big dogs will speak all languages

 

https://deepmind.com/blog/wavenet-generative-model-raw-audio/

 

be sure to check out all the audio samples!

[DocRandal]

 

Ice is no longer any protection. Soon.

[James]

The Big dogs will speak all languages

 

https://deepmind.com/blog/wavenet-generative-model-raw-audio/

 

be sure to check out all the audio samples!

The zero-input babbling and the music was fascinating! It makes me think (fittingly) of Google DeepDream, in that it's a relatable insight (of sorts) into the workings of neural networks. They're trained to do something transparent (be it render text as natural-sounding speech, or identify objects in pictures), but it's very exciting to see those things turned on their heads and the process made visible (by removing the input text, replacing the source speech with music, or emphasising the patterns and sub-patterns identified in a picture until it's full of target objects).

[Jutranjo]

And now they look very capable to open doors/scale fences/climb stairs/have knives attached to all surfaces

 

[dibs]

That thing is adorable.

[DocRandal]

Maria Yablonina developed a system for wall-climbing robots to weave fibers into useful structures on vertical surfaces, like this hammock-like web that can support a human. The bots can even trade the threaded bobbin between units. This iteration requires each unit to be tethered and controlled by an operator, but the proof of concept hints at the possibilities of more automated processes in the future iterations.

 

[thenexus6]

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/this-robot-can-do-more-pushups-because-it-sweats