robocalypse
Scientists teach machines to hunt and kill humans — in Doom deathmatch mode
You know how sometimes you look at a piece of research and think, "I suppose it's an interesting technical problem, but isn't teaching an AI to hunt and kill humans a pursuit fundamentally dangerous t
Understanding the economy of the crowd
When you think about crowdsourced work, you probably think about Mechanical Turk and, maybe, Uber. On the one hand, an anonymous platform where people feel like mechanical parts. On the other hand, a
How computer-assisted art will help humans embrace the rise of the robots
For many people, the robot-populated future is a zero-sum game; it's either going to be us or them running things. Headlines are rife with dire predictions: “Robots will take over most jobs in 30 ye
The diagnosis and the cure of automation
I was challenged recently to “name one job in the future that won’t be automated.” I was stumped. I couldn’t think of one job that someday won’t be dehumanized. That got me thinking about th
The assimilation of robots into the workforce as peers, not replacements
One might ask why we would ever want to create robots that can do human work when we have so many people who need jobs. The goal of robotics should not be to replace humans with robots, but rather to
Only the privileged fear a robot revolution
Leading venture capitalists, scientists and CEOs all have the same prediction for AI: machines will take jobs away, “eat the world” and, ultimately, overthrow humanity. These histrionics have driv
Let’s start getting excited about robots taking our jobs
A recent Pew report found that a majority of Americans believe that most human jobs could be automated by 2065. It’s no wonder, then, that talk about technological unemployment is becoming increasin
SwagBot will autonomously roll them little dogies along rough Australian ranchlands
Is nothing sacred? The rugged trails that over history have been trod by cowboys, gauchos, ranch hands, and in Australia, swagmen, are now to be presided over by cold, calculating machines. SwagBot is
Exploiting machine learning in cybersecurity
While more and more jobs are being forfeited to robots and artificial intelligence, is it conceivable to convey to machines a responsibility as complicated as cybersecurity? The topic is being hotly d
The social side of autonomous cars and technological disruption
In my recent travels through Singapore, I witnessed all that this city-state is doing to become a “Smart Nation." My trip was instructive on many levels, but the primary point that became ever more
Robots add real value when working with humans, not replacing them
In the popular media, we talk a lot about robots stealing jobs. But when we stop speculating and actually look at the real world of work, the impact of advanced robotics is far more nuanced and compli
Human obsolescence: Are we ready for an artificially intelligent future?
“Enjoy your com-FORT-able stay,” says a robot front-desk clerk at Japan’s Robot Hotel. Do you thank the robot for its awkward salutation? Or maybe you hesitate for a moment before shuffling off
Robots won’t just take jobs, they’ll create them
Robots and artificial intelligence have come a long way since a Roomba entered your home to vacuum your floor and Siri gave you advice on the best Italian restaurants in your parents’ neighborhood.
Robot surgeon outperforms human colleagues doing same procedure
It's another victory for the machines: a robotic surgical system outperformed humans and robot-assisted human operators in a soft-tissue procedure, bringing us that much closer to automated medical ca
Alphabet’s secretive Schaft Inc. shows off new bipedal robot in Tokyo
There's a new bot in town (Tokyo, specifically), and while it might not be as cute as Nao, as creepy as Spot and BigDog, or as anthropomorphic as Atlas, it might be more practical than all of them. It
People feel weird about touching robot butts, researchers find
How would you feel if a robot asked you to touch its butt? Maybe it sounds like a silly question (actually, there's no maybe about it), but as robots proliferate and anthropomorphize, it's actually so
Google could be selling Boston Dynamics because even Google thinks these robots are terrifying
Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. isn't happy with <a href="https://beta.techcrunch.com/tag/boston-dynamics/">Boston Dynamics</a>, its robotics subsidiary. According to a <a target="_blank" href="
Google is using machine learning to teach robots how to grasp random objects
Using your hand to grasp a pen that's lying on your desk doesn't exactly feel like a chore, but for robots, that's still a really hard thing to do. So to teach robots how to better grasp random object
Math-Blind AI Teaches Itself Basic Number Sense
Imagine you're a hunter-killer robot, hovering over the broken wasteland that used to be the world of men. You have surprised a group of biologicals in an act of petty insurrection, and they have spli
Japanese Company Works On 13-Foot Robot With Built-In Cockpit
The <a href="https://beta.techcrunch.com/tag/robocalypse/">Robocalypse</a> is near: Osaka-based <a href="http://www.hajimerobot.co.jp/en/">Hajime Research Institute</a> is working on a <a href="http:/