Saturday 20 November 2021

Why Robots Need Not Be Humanoid

We recently had a combox discussion about whether humanoid robots would be useful in combat. I can't remember which post.

Self-driving cars make robot chauffeurs redundant. Automatic household appliances make domestic robots redundant. Waldoes make robots in dangerous radioactive rooms redundant. Specialized machines make a generalist machine redundant. Men are the generalist machines. A robot explains this in Poul Anderson's "Quixote and the Windmill."

Animal-Shaped Robots
A "robo-dog" in an sf film.
A robotic dog in an Asimov story.
K9 in Doctor Who.
A pack robot on Mars in Anderson's The Fleet Of Stars.
 
The Pack Robot
Two meters long.
One meter high.
Gray cylinder.
Six clawed legs.
A front-end sensor turret.
Energy accumulators.
A transmitter for SOS calls.
Carrying air, water, fuel cells, medicine, tools, instruments, clothing, sealtent.
Obeys simple orders.
Traverses rugged terrain.

6 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And self driving cars are now an actuality, even if still largely experimental. But I might like to get one myself, if they became practical and affordable.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

I would feel very unsafe. I would program it not to to speed or overtake.

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And that might well be the DEFAULT settings for self driving cars. And good enough for me as well.

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Self-driving cars are programmed -- unchangeably -- to obey traffic laws at all times. They won't be -able- to speed, or to violate other regulations.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Not only would I not want to break speed limits, I would want to stay at a low speed all the time.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

And that leads me to wondering if many accidents involving self driving cars might be caused by humans not realizing such are programmed to always obey the traffic laws. E.g., a self driving car notices the light has turned green and started to move--at the same time some jerk decides to run the red light. A human driver with the green light might or might not have noticed the jerk running the red light in time to avoid a crash.

Ad astra! Sean