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Tag Archives: robots
Robo-Journalist Wins The Pulitzer
Okay, so that hasn’t happened yet, but the folks over at Narrative Science, a company that has created software that performs “automated narrative generation,” confidently predicts that its computer program will win the coveted prize by 2016. Let’s back up … Continue reading
Posted in robot, technology
Tagged AP, automated insights, computer program, journalism, LA Times, narrative science, New York Times, newspaper, Quakebot, robo-journalism, robots
1 Comment
Robots Can Get Themselves Together
Replication, including molecular assemblers and nanofactories, while impressive in and of itself, is also the first step to self-replication, an often apocalyptic trope in science fiction. Grey goo is perhaps the most dramatic end-of-days self-replication scenario, involving robots that consume … Continue reading
Posted in Could this Happen?
Tagged Distributed Flight Array, M-Block, MIT, replication, robots, self-assembly, self-replication
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Pacific Rim’s Jaegers Reflect a Departure from Hollywood Norms
In addition to the question of whether it’s possible to create mecha robots, my Slate piece addresses a cultural “could this happen?” question–namely, could we accept robots as companions rather than competitors?
Posted in Could this Happen?
Tagged androids, anime, Asimov, Hollywood, jaeger, Japan, jobs, love plus, mecha, pacific rim, replacement, robots, slate
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A Very, Very, Very Fine House
Ray Bradbury’s lovely, human-less chapter of the Martian Chronicles, “There Will Come Soft Rains”, features an automated house that cooks meals for its inhabitants, issues gentle reminders of when to wake up and go to sleep, draws baths, washes dishes, … Continue reading
Posted in Could this Happen?
Tagged "There Will Come Soft Rains", actuators, app, automated house, cloud, communication, control, downton abbey, house, Martian Chronicles, mini-computer, motion detector, motion sensor, nanny cam, ninja, Ninja Blocks, Open hardware, Open Source, programming, Raspberry Pi, Ray Bradbury, remote control, robot house, robots, Sara Teasdale, sensors, temperature sensor, twitter, Wally Wood, wireless
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A Head of Its Time
Battlestar Galactica, the Terminator, Star Trek: TNG, and works by Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, and Isaac Asimov, among many others, feature humanoid robots that are indistinguishable from humans. Such robots are discussed in more detail here. This post explores … Continue reading
Cylons Shouldn’t Sweat
In 1950, Alan Turing sought to answer the question “can machines think?” He designed a test that involved a computer having a typed conversation with a human. If a third party couldn’t consistently tell the computer from the human, the … Continue reading
Posted in Could this Happen?
Tagged ai, artificial intelligence, battlestar galactica, BSG, computers, Hanson, mind, researchers, robots, scientists, sentience, soul, think, Turing, Turing Test
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