The Time of the Robots?

     Greetings, All -- As news of lethal military strikes by unoccupied air vehicles fills the airways, there can be little doubt that man and machine are working together effectively even over great distances.  Increasingly capable machines present simpler interfaces to human controllers by taking on board more perceptive sensors integrated with powerful software.  The signs are clear:  Humankind is making techno-leaps into the Time of the Robots.

     Analogous to the UAV human/machine teams, a robotic office receptionist service called AnyLobby is available from AnyBots company.  An intelligent, robotic machine, QB, is capable of performing a variety of office tasks with support as needed from a human being located anywhere within Internet-shot of the lobby.  Author Evan Ackerman provides additional details in his piece, "Anybots now offering AnyLobby Robotic Staffing Service," appearing in the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) Spectrum magazine.  Note that this robot is offering jobs, not taking them.

     That is not the case for NASA's Robonaut 2 and Spheres robots now seeking business opportunities as described by Ackerman in Spectrum's Robots Aboard the International Space Station.  The article contains a video that lays out the ambitions of the robots and their Astronaut trainer.  This is a serious effort to put robots into dangerous environments, sparing their human counterparts the risks.

     Evan Ackerman next takes us into the laboratories of The University of Pennsylvania through an amazing video demonstration.  In the article, "Swarming Quadrotors Get Nano-ized", the flying robots gang up, perform unbelieveable maneuvers and "sound . . . like a swarm of giant angry bees."  He points out that each quadrotor can be tossed into the air and immediately orient itself.  We wonder what it would be like if one seriously offended a crew of these little guys!

     For his offering in the world of robotic magic, Ackerman collected a rich stew of a half dozen quite imaginative videos.  Some have serious messages for human beings and, perhaps, for the growing population of robots.  Also appearing in Spectrum, this great collection is entitled "Video Friday: Dancing Robots, Sumo Robots, War Robots, and More."  We found that these extraordinary videos raised our consciousness.  We trust that you will find them similarly opening new vistas for you.

     We hope that this excellent presentation by Mr. Ackerman has not tried your patience.  In our work, we are ever focused on estimating the most probable directions that technology will take as our future unfolds.  Surely, robots will become increasingly capable with time.  We have long wondered whether there will come a time when robots themselves will become able to develop ever more capable robots.  Whether that is an original thought or seeded by one of our magnificent science fiction authors, I do not recall.  Whatever its origin, I have no doubt that Humanity, unless we are very careful and provident, will one future day find itself Mano-a-mano in a fight for survival with its own creations.

     Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder