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NanditoPapa t1_japxdcd wrote

"Our world is designed for the human form: → Arms and hands allow us to open doors and use tools. → Legs allow us to move efficiently, climb stairs, lift boxes, and more. For 100 years, robots that can do human-like tasks have been unattainable"

This is just... demonstrably untrue, as any automated assembly line can show.

A properly designed robot can open doors, use tools, climb stairs, lift boxes, and more without a human-like form. Trying to fit utility into a predefined mold is putting form before function. It's limiting and a gross misstep.

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blueSGL t1_jaq3156 wrote

> A properly designed robot can open doors, use tools, climb stairs, lift boxes, and more without a human-like form.

can it do that in a "designed for human" spaces along with being general purpose to switch between tasks

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Lonestar93 t1_jaqxnpa wrote

I also found it funny he was quoting the Vox article about Amazon running out of people. Wasn’t that story about them running out of people willing to be exploited?

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NanditoPapa t1_jar33ih wrote

Yes! They are sad they're burning through exploitable human capital. A bit gross...

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gantork t1_jaqy4k3 wrote

Assembly line robots are extremely specific... if it has to be able to build motors AND do your laundry and make you dinner the human form is obviously a good idea.

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NanditoPapa t1_jar2x5h wrote

The assembly line comment was just to show one example of how parts of the human form can be modified and perfected to do different jobs. Suction cups are better than fingers when manipulating glass, for instance.

The people upvoting you and downvoting me are limited in their thinking. They don't understand how tentacles, suction, or piezoelectric malleable metals that can change form based on protein expression (https://gizmodo.com/liquid-metal-robot-real-shape-shifting-terminator-2-t2-1850019628) are going to change robotics. They only think in terms of what has been in the past or what they imagine as perfection...the human form.

But it's OK, I'm used to people being a step or two behind me...

Edit: I hope people understand the last part of my comment is intended as being cheeky, not serious

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challengethegods t1_jargdhp wrote

>I'm used to people being a step or two behind me...

then prepare to step outside your comfort zone because completely independent of the raw utility of any form the simple fact is that people will be universally more accepting towards humanoid robots than they will be towards a matrix sentinel floating tentacle machine completely alien to them, for example. The entire point of the teslabots is mass-production to have them everywhere. A middleground between looking somewhat harmless/acceptable and having some level of industrial capacity that can be taken seriously makes complete sense if the goal is to have them be as prevalent as cars, while even more "social acceptance" would be derived from cuteness and neoteny as anyone in japan could already tell you.

Trying to debate against "a human crafted world being designed for human form" is not even worth mentioning because it's so painfully obvious, but to your credit I agree with the premise that robotics in general is and has been capable of plenty more than what's implied by the claims of these things being "unattainable". The language used in talking about their company is very fluffy as if they're unveiling the one-and-only-robot which is kinda silly, and I think we're probably on the same page that this kind of "worker-droid" is not even remotely close to the upper bound of what is actually possible, I just think it makes sense that everyone would have some kinda pseudo-generic humanbot walking around trying to integrate into society rather than mechaCthulhu or w/e.

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TheAnonFeels t1_jas7t1o wrote

I think the issue there arises when you have to train a new AI to use suction cups instead of one that knows how to manipulate it's hands for any task... Like holding on to suction cups.

Purpose built robots require more labor and training than designing one that can do nearly everything, you also got a much larger market.

Also, just being cheeky here, but

>The people upvoting you and downvoting me are limited in their thinking.

doesn't sound like cheeky, it sounds like condescending and arrogance.

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TheAnonFeels t1_jas756l wrote

I feel you're a little absolute on that, but the point I wanted to bring up is most of these robots are designed with people working with robots in mind. People like humanoids on a psychological level, especially inside their homes.

For industrialization reasons, you can do all that with a non-humanoid I agree, but I will say it'd have to be similar to a humanoid with height and hand size for workstations to say the same.

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