Future Robotics
Past
We've always had robots…
When the first automatic washing machine came out, it was exciting but scary.
What if it damaged clothes?
How clean would it get them?
It’s really expensive!
As time moved onWe now have washing machines that automatically balance themselves, automatically dispense soap according to the weight of the fabrics inside, and various other things that are actually a form of machine learning.
Present
Artificial intelligence is still kind of scary. AI sort of freaks people out. But we've had machine learning from the washing machine on into the future if we think about it.
People are comfortable with the automobiles in the 40 years that diagnose themselves as they drive down the road and send codes to their computer for later retrieval. The codes are used to repair the vehicle and some vehicles even send them to the manufacturer so defect patterns can be observed.
We have dishwashers that have varying automatic cycles, depending on the load and type of soil.
We have robots to find their way around the house and vacuum the floor that we're very comfortable with, but believe it or not a Roomba uses artificial intelligence.
Home Robotics & AI
It is only in the balance of the constraint of artificial intelligence that we have to be careful and decide what we will allow AI to do. It's the outside parameters that need to be set in the same way.
A snowblowing or lawnmowing robot can be very helpful and save many hours. It could be dangerous if unleashed. Once the boundaries are set, the machine can learn inside them and become quite helpful.
It is a Learning Curve.
It takes time. Over the long run this time is paid back many times over. The cost is paid back as well. Just like the cost of an electric car is much higher at the outset, over the long haul, lower maintenance and less issues save money.
More to come as the Boston Dynamics Robot dances away!