Robotics has advanced so far that AI-powered machines are able to perform a wide array of tasks.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Everybody has seen footage with Atlas, the robot produced by Google. In that footage it is clear that it can do lots of things like walking in the snow, stacking boxes, getting up after it was knocked down and even resist the attacks of a bully. Atlas is the first humanoid, and that is pretty scary.
Why scary? Because even brilliant minds like Steven Hawking, Bill Gates and Elon Musk have expressed their concern regarding the fast rise of robots.
Our history may not be written by Isaac Asimov or James Cameron, but it’s starting to look like it is, at the very least, inspired by them.
The scariest part in all of this is the fact that the first humanoid robot was built by the Alphabet Company. If you’re not familiar with the name, well you’re just a google away of finding out that Google falls into its patronage.
We are talking about a company that owns more information than the Bureau and more money that they can spend.
But let’s skip Alphabet and focus on the robot that is presently carrying the weight of the world on its mechanical shoulders.
Atlas is the first humanoid, and that is pretty scary. The thought that the military will soon forget about neatly wrapped flags given to mourning family members is a big plus, but what will happen when the ones we’re fighting get their hands on the same technology?
What happens if a code is poorly written and the army that we will create will start exterminating humans? Of course, the scientists are working on various methods of teaching morality to the machines.
Some will say that such theories are far-fetched, and a proper coding will ensure that there will be no incidents between humans and the AI-powered machines that they invented to make the world a better place.
For the moment, Atlas is being advertised as a robot that will eliminate manual labor. This is all fine and dandy; robots will be the new house elves, at least until a Dobby appears and they start to claim rights and privileges.
It’s ok to think that a robot won’t mind washing your toilet or folding underwear, but there is much more to manual labor than that.
Some researchers estimated that when robots will be available on the market, there will be thousands of people that will lose their jobs. Because the world is not populated only by scientists and politicians.
And that is just the economic downside of creating an army of humanoids. Plus humans already trust robots more than they should.
Atlas is the first humanoid, and that is pretty scary because the world is not yet ready for such technical advances. Not while terrorists are hacking Facebook and Twitter accounts to convince more and more people to join their cause. Not while wars are still being fought right next to innocent bystanders. Not yet.
Image source: www.wikimedia.org